


Uncover

by sarina



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Fluff, No Romance, Past Rape/Non-con, Rape Aftermath, Rape Recovery, Some sweet Steve moments d'aww
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-08 20:30:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12872418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarina/pseuds/sarina
Summary: A new girl moves to Hawkins, Indiana and immediately becomes a part of the news headlines for something she can't even remember. Chief Jim Hopper is determined to find the boy who raped her and bring him to justice while she tries to cope with it as best as she can.With the help of one of the only friends she has, will she be able to cope with her past? Or will it come back to haunt her in ways that even she can't control?





	1. It Happened That Night

**Author's Note:**

> As I said in the tags, there is no strong romantic relationship in this story. There are hints of one, but nothing that will be explicitly said or done. If that's something you really wanted out of this, I apologize, but you're not going to find it in this story.
> 
> With that said, I hope that you still give this a chance and enjoy it! :)

Her head throbbed at the same tempo as the music downstairs where sweaty young adults danced and played beer games. As her senses began to come back to her, she felt the need to throw up. So she did.

When she attempted to sit up, she realized that she wasn’t upstairs in the house where the party was like she thought. She was outside in the woods behind the house. The uncomfortable sensation of twigs, rocks and pinecones digging into her bare skin made her flinch. She was naked.

Then it hit her like a tsunami crashing onto the land. She remembered. She remembered having one beer, saying goodbye to her friend who had decided to leave the party early and having another drink with a boy who was extremely persistent to keep her going after she had said she didn’t want to. But that was it.

She tried to stand, but her legs gave out and she hit the ground, the side of her head slamming onto a rock. Her weak efforts to push herself up were failing and she could feel herself falling asleep. Maybe dying. With the way she was feeling she wouldn’t mind the later.

“Oh shit!” a female voice that she didn’t recognize yelled. The voice sounded nearby. “Jonathan, call 911!”

 _‘No, don’t,’_ Y/N wanted to say. _‘I’m fine, just tired.’_

But she couldn’t force herself to move no matter how hard she tried.

 

Bright, fluorescent lights and the smell of lemon mixed with bleach filled her nostrils. There was something foreign on her nose that she attempted to swipe away.

“Hey, don’t do that,” A tired, gruff voice said as a large, calloused hand pulled hers away from her face. Y/N jumped at the unexpected presence and turned to see who it was.

A man in his late-thirties to early forties sat in a chair near her bed. His heavy bags and bloodshot eyes gave away the fact that he was exhausted. It took only a few seconds of inspecting before she realized he was a police officer. His hat was placed on the empty seat beside him and his badge shone proudly on the left side of his chest.

“Can you get a doctor, please?” the police officer asked, turning to another one who Y/N hadn’t even noticed was in the room. The man nodded and left the room.

Y/N turned back to the police officer and attempted to croak out, “What happened,” but she got cut off by the dryness in her throat and began to cough. The police officer handed her a Styrofoam cup filled with water, to which she took immediately, chugging the water in seconds.

“Thank you,” she muttered, handing the cup back to him.

“Do you remember anything about the party you went to last night?” he asked.

Y/N was a bit taken aback by the quick question, but tried her best to think.

“I remember… saying goodbye to my friend, playing beer pong and then waking up in the woods.”

“You said you were with a friend. What’s your friend’s name?”

“Pamela Carlisle… what’s going on?” she asked after realizing the second officer in the room was writing down what she was saying.

“Alright Miss Y/L/N. You sure gave us quite a scare last night. It’s good to see you’re waking up,” a doctor said as he walked into the room.

Y/N gave him a confused look, but didn’t ask any questions. She waited as the doctor took the oxygen tubes out of her nose and checked her vitals.

“How is your head feeling?” he asked as he shined a small flashlight in her eyes.

“It kind of hurts. There’s a stinging pain.”

“Where?”

“Around the back and my temples.”

The doctor nodded. “You came in with a mild concussion last night. Speaking of that, how much do you remember from last night?”

“Not much. Just my friend leaving, playing beer pong and waking up in the woods.”

The doctor’s expression changed to one of sympathy, “You’ll begin to remember everything within the next few days, seeing as you didn’t drink enough alcohol to distort your memories.”

“So what happened? What am I going to remember?”

“Can I talk to her, Doc?” the police officer behind the doctor asked.

“Yes, of course. Call me back in if you need anything.”

Y/N watched the doctor leave and turned to the police officer when the door shut.

“Y/N Y/L/N. My name is Jim Hopper. I’m the police chief here in Hawkins.”

“Nice to meet you,” she replied with a half-assed smile.

“Yeah. Listen, do you live with anyone here?”

She shook her head, “No. My family lives in Indianapolis. I’m renting an apartment while I go to the community college here.”

Jim nodded, “I’m going to tell you what we know about what happened last night.”

“Okay.”

He took a deep breath and glanced at his partner before looking back at Y/N. She furrowed her eyebrows at their exchange.

“According to your friend Pamela, last night you girls got to the party around 9 o’clock. Then you had one beer each because you wanted to play beer pong, but you didn’t want to be too inebriated so you could still play. The two of you played two games when her mother picked her up and she left. Does any of that sound familiar?”

Y/N nodded her head slowly, processing everything he’d said. “Yeah that sounds right.”

“Can you remember anything after that? Anyone you talked to or anything you did?” Jim asked.

“I remember talking to a boy. I don’t remember much, though.”

“Do you remember his name or what he looked like?”

“Not his name. But I know he had long, brown hair, about shoulder length, and he was wearing a jacket.”

Jim sighed. That could be anybody.

“Do you remember what you two talked about?”

“He wanted me to keep drinking after playing beer pong, but I didn’t want to so I told him to leave me alone and he walked away,” Y/N recalled.

“Did he seem upset when he walked away from you?”

“I can’t remember. Probably.”

Jim nodded. He didn’t want to push her for answers while she was in this position.

“I wanted to tell you this so you know what results we have come to so far. There are articles in the newspaper about this already because information got leaked to the public,” he began, adjusting his sitting position. “You were found in the woods last night, naked. So when you got here the doctors ran some tests and found high traces of flunitrazepam in your system. Do you know what that is?”

Y/N shook her head.

“It’s a powerful sedative that’s only legal in Europe so I’m not sure how it was found in your system, but the doctors were sure of it,” Jim explained.

“Okay, so what does that mean?”

“It means that someone wanted you to be unconscious. I don’t know why, but I’m hoping we figure it out.”

A look of realization washed over Y/N's face as she looked at Jim, but she didn’t say anything; she didn’t want to be right. Jim watched as her expression changed, his chest feeling heavy when he saw the look in her eyes. He didn’t want to be the one to tell her.

“Because of the high level in your system, the doctors ran another test to make sure they were thorough,” he continued, letting out a deep sigh. “They found traces of semen on your chest, but not around your vagina so there is no need to worry about a pregnancy. However, if you wish the doctors did offer to run complimentary tests to make sure.”

“Did I get raped?” Y/N asked, holding eye contact with Jim so she could see his reaction to her question.

Jim wanted to look away, but he held her gaze. “Yes.”

She remained quiet as her thoughts raced. How was this even possible? How could she not remember something so traumatizing happening to her? Did she actually _want_ it to happen? Did she allow him to and not remember? Being raped seemed like something that she should have remembered.

“By who?” she finally asked.

“We don’t know, but we’re questioning everybody who was at that party last night. I promise you that I’m going to find out who did this to you, okay?”

Y/N nodded, going silent again. She had no words—nothing that would help her feel better or the situation she was in feel less miserable.

“Hey, kid, are you okay?” Jim asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah.”

_‘No, I’m not.’_


	2. Day One

The feeling of uneasiness as everyone stares at you was foreign to Y/N. Not only were her peers giving her looks of sympathy and confusion, but also her professors. She was so used to blending in that now it was as if a giant spotlight was on her. The eyes of every person in the town burning holes onto every inch of her skin; the sensation prickling at her skin and making her want to run into the bathrooms and hide the entire time she was there.

Being the center of attention and the center of everyone’s gossip was something she wasn’t used to and something she despised.

As she descended the stairs, she glanced around, smiling when she saw Steve. Finally some normalcy to the batshit crazy week she’d been having.

 

_“Oh shit, sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was behind me,” a boy who looked around her age said, leaning back to keep the door held open for her. He had tousled brown hair, dark eyes and a semi-muscular build._

_“You didn’t have to do that, thanks,” she said, walking past him._

_There was a crisp breeze that afternoon that felt fresh against the pores on Y/N’s face. She smiled to herself as she took in a deep breath and continued to walk towards her next class._

_“You’re the new girl, right? Y/N?” the boy asked, jogging to catch up to her._

_“That’s me,” she said with a chuckle. “This town sure is small.”_

_“Yeah. I’m Steve,” he said, extending his hand out towards her. She smiled meekly, giving his hand a shake._

_“Nice to meet you,” Y/N said, taking her hand back._

_The two walked in silence before Steve spoke up again._

_“So where are you from?” he asked._

_“Indianapolis.”_

_“Wow, a city girl. What made you want to come down to Hawkins?” he asked, shifting his backpack from one shoulder to the other._

_“Your community college and the cost of living is a lot cheaper than anything I could afford there,” she answered honestly._

_“Are you on your own down here?” he asked._

_“Yeah. It’s definitely a culture shock,” she said._

_Steve chuckled, “I bet. I’ve only been to Indianapolis a few times when I was a kid, but I can’t remember hating it.”_

_“It’s alright,” Y/N shrugged, looking up at him. He was noticeably taller than her._

_“So you don’t like Indianapolis and you don’t like it here—“_

_“I never said I didn’t like it here.”_

_He gave her a look, “Come on, Y/N.”_

_“I don’t know the town well enough to judge it yet,” she replied._

_“Well, there’s not much, but some of it is pretty cool,” he said._

_“Yeah? Like what?”_

_“We have a movie theater **and** a strip mall.”_

_Y/N turned to him with a smirk, “With amenities like that I’m shocked there aren’t more tourists here.”_

_Steve chuckled and looked around the area that they had walked to, “Where are we going?” he asked._

_“I’m not sure where you’re going, but I’m going to my class,” Y/N said, pointing to the door they were approaching._

_Steve looked at his watch, “Shit, I’m gonna be late for my next class.”_

_“When does it start?”_

_“Five minutes ago.”_

_“What? Go!” Y/N said, stopping in her tracks and turning to face him._

_He held his hands up defensively, “Alright, alright. I’ll see you around, right?”_

_“Sure,” she smiled._

_“Same door, same day?” he asked as he walked backwards away from her._

_Y/N kept watching to see if he would eventually trip over his own foot. He’d come close to it more than once._

_“Same time,” she confirmed, watching him smile before he turned and began to jog to the other end of the campus._

He gave her a crooked smile when she approached him at their door.

“Hey,” she smiled weakly at him.

“Hey,” he replied, opening the door for her. “Shall we?”

They walked in silence. The chilly air reaching a temperature that was close to making Y/N’s teeth chatter. She stuck her hands in the pockets of her pull-over University of Indiana sweater to keep her fingers as warm as she could. As they continued to walk the only sounds heard were the crunching of leaves that had fallen from nearby trees between the concrete and soles of their shoes, the atmosphere around Y/N swirling with the scent of fresh air mixed with Steve’s musky cologne.

When they reached the halfway point of their walk to Y/N’s class and Steve hadn’t spoken one word to her, she knew that something was wrong. And by the looks she’d been getting from everybody else this morning, she assumed it was for the same reason.

“Are you acting like this because I got raped?” Y/N deadpanned, startling Steve with the word choice in her abrupt question.

“I uh, wha- what?” he stuttered out.

“Please don’t look at me the same way everyone else in this town is,” she said, looking up at him.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to say. Are you—“

“Okay? Absolutely not. Not at all. And everyone who stares at me and watches me like I’m a piece of walking glass constantly remind me that I’m not.”

Steve sighed and nodded, “How about we start this over?” he suggested, stopping where he was. Y/N stopped walking and turned to him, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Keep walking,” Steve said, motioning his arms forward in a pushing manner.

She opened her mouth to ask a question, but shut it with a shake of her head and turned away, continuing her walk to her class.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!” Steve said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he walked up behind her.

“Steve,” she smiled, rolling her eyes.

“Now what’s this I hear about people staring at you? Tell me who they are and I’ll beat the shit out of them. Granted, I’ll probably get my ass kicked because I don’t know how to fight, but I will try my best.”

Y/N giggled and shook her head, “You’re such a dork.”

Steve smiled, leaving his arm around her shoulders as they walked.

“Steve?” she called a few seconds later.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime,” he said as they reached the door to her classroom.

“Hey, did I ever give you my phone number?” he asked before she could go inside.

“No, is that usually something you do with people you’ve known for a little over a month?”

Steve chuckled and shook his head, pulling a pen from his backpack and tearing a piece of paper out of his notebook. He used the wall of the building to write down his telephone number.

“On a more serious note, you can call me whenever you need to talk. You don’t have to be alone through all of this, okay?”

He could tell that she was holding a lot inside that she didn’t want to show on the surface.

Y/N smiled and took the piece of paper he offered her, “Thank you.”

“I’m serious. Anytime. My parents might get pissed, but I don’t care.”

He looked at his watch and cursed, “I’m gonna be late. Remember to call me!” he said before running towards his class.

Y/N smiled and shook her head, ignoring the looks her fellow classmates gave her and sat down. She looked at the piece of paper in her hands once she had situated herself in her seat. A smile spread across her face when she read it.

 

Steve Harrington -- #1 Ass Kicker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, a semi-cute chapter, I guess?? haha I guess as cute as it can be for the subject matter. I'm so happy that you guys are enjoying this. I didn't even think I'd get one hit on this story so I'm very excited about continuing this. Thank you for your views, kudos and kind words! They're much appreciated :)


	3. Day Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter is long. I got a bit carried away while writing it, but hopefully it evens out because there's quite a bit of dialogue. Happy reading! :)

The air was dry that morning, which was typical for Indiana in October. It was that transitional month into winter when the citizens began to prepare for the cold weather and snowfall that was to come in the following months.

A metal bell rang as she pulled the door open. The receptionist didn’t even look up.

“Hi, I’m Y/N Y/L/N. I’m here to see Chief Hopper,” she said.

“Second door on your right,” the receptionist said, not looking up from her crossword puzzle.

“Thanks,” Y/N said.

She walked past the receptionist desk, smiling politely at a few officers who looked up at her as she passed. She knocked on the door twice.

“It’s open!” Jim called from the other side.

She opened the door, closing it behind her. Jim sat at his desk, hands folded behind his head.

“Hi Chief. Thank you for meeting with me,” Y/N said, taking a seat across from his desk.

“Of course. You said you remembered something new about what happened that night at the party?” he asked, pulling his typewriter closer to his desk and sticking a piece of paper through it.

“Yes, I do.”

Jim waited for a couple seconds before looking at her expectantly. Y/N took a deep breath as she thought about where she wanted to start.

“I remember I went up to the bathroom because I felt like I had to throw up and there was a guy following me, asking if I was alright,” she began. “I thought it was weird because a lot of people were throwing up just from drinking too much and for someone to worry so much about me was odd.”

“Maybe he wanted to make sure you were okay?”

“Yeah, but it just felt… ingenuine. I don’t know how to explain it. It kind of feels like someone being worried about you because they need to cover their own ass, you know?”

Hopper nodded, typing everything down as she spoke.

“Anything else?” he asked, glancing up at her.

She nodded.

 

_“Hey, whoa, you’re kind of stumbling there. You okay, pretty lady?” the guy asked, holding Y/N by the arm as she fell against the wall near the bathroom._

_“Yeah, I’m gonna throw up. Need to throw up,” Y/N slurred, unable to grip onto the doorknob to open the door._

_“Here, let me help you,” he said, opening the door._

_Y/N fell onto the bathroom floor, crawling to the toilet as she anticipated what was about to come. She could feel her stomach turning upside down as the inside of her mouth became hot. She opened her mouth to cough and threw up what felt like the entire contents of her stomach into the toilet. Her breathing heaved before she threw up once more into the toilet._

_She rested her sweaty forehead on her arm, still kneeling against the toilet. She jumped in surprise as the toilet flushed and she looked up to see the man who hadn’t left her alone the entire party._

_“Thanks for opening the door. I’ll be fine now, you can go,” Y/N said, waving her arm helplessly toward the door._

_“Leave you in the condition you’re in? I don’t think so,” he said._

_Y/N’s vision began to get blurry and she blinked a few times to get a better look at this guy. He wasn’t unattractive, but he wasn’t her type either. He sat on the side of the bathtub and leant forward so his elbows rested on his knees._

_“You need to give yourself a little break. So let’s chat for a while,” he suggested._

_Y/N furrowed her eyebrows and moved so that her back rested against the wall, head craned back to relieve some of the pressure in her neck._

_“Why?” she asked._

_The guy chuckled, “Well, why not? Besides, I don’t think you want to go back down there and start partying again, do you?”_

_She remained quiet and closed her eyes, letting out a sigh._

_“So you’re Steve’s new squeeze, right?” he asked._

_Y/N opened her eyes quicker than she should have and gave him a confused look, “What are you talking about?”_

_“Oh come on. We all see you two at school. He walks you to your class, you guys go out to lunch almost every day…”_

_“And friends don’t do that?”_

_The guy snickered, “Ah, poor Steve. He likes the girl and she doesn’t like him back.”_

_“What?” she asked, exasperated. This was not something her vertigo-ridden mind was able to process correctly right now._

_“Never mind,” the guy said with a shake of his head before chuckling at Y/N. “Damn, how much did you have to drink tonight?”_

_“Only two beers. Maybe five after beer pong,” she said, closing her eyes again and resting her head back against the wall._

_“Are you that much of a light-weight?”_

_“Not at all, which is weird. I guess it’s been a while, though, so maybe that has something to do with it.”_

_A loud banging on the door interrupted their conversation._

_“Hey, open the door! I have to pee!” a girl shouted from the other side._

_“It looks like we better go,” the guy said as the banging continued relentlessly._

_Y/N stood up slowly, walking forward cautiously so she wouldn’t fall again. The second the guy unlocked the door, the girl burst through, knocking Y/N into him. He grabbed her by her waist to keep her steady and she could feel herself losing consciousness._

_“Let’s go get you some fresh air outside, what do you think?” the guy asked into her ear._

_Y/N opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. It was as if she was simultaneously awake and asleep as he dragged her from the bathroom, downstairs and out the back door._

Jim realized that he’d been so engrossed in the story that he stopped typing halfway through what she was saying. As he quickly got the end of the story typed up he looked at Y/N again.

“Is there anything else you remember?” he asked.

She shook her head, “Not yet.”

“How did you remember this, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I went to a bar with one of my friends last night and I could smell the same beer I’d been drinking that night. I guess that triggered something inside of me and caused me to remember some of what happened.”

Jim nodded and let out a breath. He couldn’t imagine this type of situation happening to Elle, which was his reasoning for being so invested in this case.

“Is there anything else you’d like to add or do you have any questions for me?” Jim asked.

“Are you close to knowing who did it?” she asked.

“Honestly, no. I’m hoping that once you remember a little bit more we’ll be able to pinpoint a few of the guys at the party and give you some options to choose from.”

Y/N nodded and sighed, feeling tears well in her eyes.

“Hey,” Jim called, getting her to look up. “You can talk to me if you need to. I’m not a shrink or anything, but I can listen if you want to talk.”

She shook her head, “I just… it’s just so frustrating. To remember the feeling of having someone force themselves on you and the feeling of how much it hurt, everywhere. How I told him to stop… so many times I begged him to stop. I promised him I wouldn’t tell if he just stopped. But he never did.”

Jim watched helplessly as she broke down in front of him, knowing that anything he said or didn’t wouldn’t make this situation any better for her.

“And he was so rough. I felt like he was going to strangle me if I didn’t shut up. I remember screaming for help, but not being loud enough because of how much I was crying and how loud the music was in the house.”

Y/N wiped the tears that had fallen onto her cheeks before continuing.

“And then to not be able to remember who did it. That’s like the icing on the fucking cake. I remember everything he did to me and how much he hurt me and how traumatized I am, but I can’t remember who he is or what he looks like. So now even though I’m trying to tell you everything, it doesn’t help you at all because all you need is a name or face and I can’t give you either of those.”

Jim didn’t speak. Hell, what was he supposed to say? Sorry? That wouldn’t help at all. He grabbed a box of tissues from the corner of his desk and handed them to Y/N. She took two out of the box and held them to her face, covering herself, ashamed.

“I have someone that I want you to go see,” Jim said, opening his desk drawer. He grabbed a pen and piece of paper so he could write down an address.

“What’s this?” Y/N asked.

“That’s an address to one of the best therapists I’ve ever met. I want you to go there and see her.”

She nodded, “Yeah, okay.”

Y/N stood up from her chair and grabbed her purse off the ground.

“Hey, I mean it. She might be able to help you,” Jim said, standing up from his chair.

“I know. I just need some time to think. Thank you for seeing me today,” she said, bee-lining toward the door before he could ask her another question.

 

Y/N had missed her early morning class, but made it just in time to start her next one. It felt weird to walk alone to it… like a piece of her day was missing. She could barely concentrate in class, her thoughts racing as she thought about who could’ve raped her. Her thoughts were moving so quickly, she didn’t hear when her professor called on her. The girl who sat next to her tapped her on the arm to get her attention.

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked to the front of the room, realizing that all eyes were on her.

“Are you ready to join us, Miss Y/L/N?” her professor asked, a few classmates chuckling.

Y/N looked around before shaking her head, “I can’t. I can’t do this today, I’m sorry,” she said, picking up her notebook and backpack.

She found herself sitting in a bathroom stall, her backpack hung on the back of the door as she held her face in her hands, trying to keep her volume down. Her façade had finally broken—she thought she’d be able to keep it going for more than one day.

The bathroom door squeaked open and she evened her breathing quickly, not wanting to draw any attention to herself.

A couple of girls came into the bathroom, giggling about something they’d been talking about before they got in there. She recognized one of the voices as the girl who sat next to her in the class she’d ran out on.

“I feel so bad for her,” the girl said.

“Who, Y/N?” her friend asked.

“Yeah, she just seems so out of it recently. I can’t imagine being in her position.”

“I mean, yeah, I feel bad. But it’s pretty obvious who did it.”

“Who?”

Her friend laughed, “Oh, you’re clueless. You’re trying to tell me it’s not obvious that Steve Harrington raped her?”

The girl from Y/N’s class was silent for a couple seconds.

“That doesn’t seem right,” she finally said. “The only obvious thing about him is that he likes her, but I don’t think he would do that.”

“And you’re naïve—so cute,” her friend replied. “He likes her and she doesn’t like him. He probably got pissed about it, drugged her at the party and raped her because he knew he wouldn’t be able to get in her pants any other way.”

“You shouldn’t be making assumptions like that, Betty. You don’t even know them,” she replied.

Betty laughed, “It’s not like I’m going to the police, Karen, calm down. It just seems pretty obvious to me that he’s the only one with a real motive.”

“I don’t know… that just doesn’t sound right,” Karen said.

“And when did you become best friends with either of them?” Betty asked accusingly.

“I-I never said that, I just think you shouldn’t accuse someone of something that serious when you don’t really know,” Karen stuttered.

“Whatever. You can be offended all you want, it’s just my theory,” Betty said, touching up the last of her lipstick. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Y/N stayed in her stall for another minute before standing and collecting her backpack. As she stood in front of the mirror, she could see just how run-down she looked. Her hair was disheveled, dark, puffy bags lined the bottoms of her eyes and her skin was much paler than its typical shade. She almost looked like she had died and come back to life.

It surely felt like she had.

 

Nighttime was when it got worse for Y/N. Because she lived alone, she was not only alone physically, but mentally as well. And being alone with her thoughts in the mindset she was in was not the best idea.

Nevertheless, she tried her best to fall asleep. Her tossing and turning lasted for God knows how long. She glanced over at her digital alarm clock and shut her eyes in defeat when she saw it was half past midnight.

She began to calm her breathing, taking a deep breath in through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. She continued this a few more times before she could feel herself slipping slower into unconsciousness.

 

_The sound of crunching leaves and stiff groans sounded in Y/N’s ears. A sharp pain washed over her abdomen, starting at her vagina. The rough twigs and sharp edges of rocks scraped her bare skin and she rocked back and forth._

_“Stop,” she said weakly, attempting to push the naked body off her, but making no difference. “Please, stop, it hurts!”_

Y/N woke with a gasp, a thin layer of sweat drenching her forehead and neck. She sat up straight, breathing heavily as she began to sob. Her heart was beating so quickly, she wouldn’t be surprised if it stopped altogether.

Once she had mustered up the strength, she stumbled out of bed, tripping over her shoes on her way to the kitchen. She grabbed her backpack off her table, dumping out all its contents. The small piece of paper she was looking for was the last thing to fall out, landing gently on her English notes.

“Please be awake,” she whispered to herself as she dialed the number into her telephone.

She waited for five rings before a woman answered.

“Hello?” she asked, sounding awake, but surprised. It was probably unusual for them to get calls this time of night.

“Hello, ma’am, my name is Y/N. Is Steve available?” Y/N strained, trying to sound as put-together as she could.

“He may be. I can check his room. Don’t hang up, okay?” she said, sounding more concerned than before.

“Thank you.”

She waited for a couple minutes, almost hanging up before she heard noises on the other end of the line.

“Y/N? Are you there?” Steve asked, the concern in his voice similar to his mother’s.

She almost let out a sigh of relief after hearing his voice for the first time that day.

“Steve,” she began, voice cracking. “I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to wake you up, I just need to talk to someone right now and I didn’t know who to call.”

She stopped talking as her voice got taken over by her sobbing.

“Hey, hey, hey, listen to me. Y/N? Listen. Hey, I can’t really understand you, but I can come over if you’d like. What’s your address?”

Y/N tried her hardest to make her voice as clear as possible when giving directions to her apartment and Steve repeated the address back to her three times to make sure he’d written down the right one.

“Y/N, I’m going to be there as fast as I can be, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you. Drive safe.”

“I will. Just try to keep calm, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

After hanging up the phone, Y/N looked down at her hands that were shaking. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get them to stop. As she paced back and forth from her dining room table to her front door, she focused on her breathing, trying to keep it as even as possible. Her hands still shook, but not as violently as they had been earlier. So long as she focused on her feet as she paced, she could calm herself down. A quick rap on her door pulled her from her calm state, and she nearly ran towards the door, unlocking it as quickly as she could.

“Steve,” she cried the second she saw him, throwing her body against his so she could hold onto him.

“Hey,” he said, slightly out of breath as she held onto him and cried into his sweater.

He held her like that for minutes in her doorway, letting her cry and squeeze him as tightly as she needed to until he noticed goosebumps forming on her nearly bare legs.

“Hey, let’s get you inside,” Steve whispered against the top of her head, pushing her into her apartment gently.

He closed and locked the door again before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her inside. He sat her down on her couch and grabbed the blanket off the back of it, wrapping her shivering body in it. He took a seat beside her and let her rest her head against his shoulder. They remained in those positions until Steve spoke up.

“Did you want to talk about this?” he asked.

Y/N nodded, “Yeah I do. I just don’t want you to look at me any differently, okay?” she asked, moving her head from his shoulder so she could look him in the eyes.

“Okay, I won’t,” he said, resting an arm on the back of her couch.

She nodded and bit her lower lip, unsure of where to start. So she started from the beginning. She told him about how she visited Hopper this morning because she had remembered a part of that night, which was why she wasn’t able to meet Steve at the stairs. Then she told him that she couldn’t stay in her second class for more than fifteen minutes because of how much her thoughts had been racing. She finally told him about her nightmare—a recalling of what she had experienced that night.

“And I still don’t know who he is,” she said, tears falling from her eyes onto her cheeks and running down her neck. “I can remember how much it hurt, how scared I was… but I can’t remember who did it.”

Steve wrapped his arms around her back as she sobbed into his neck. He didn’t know what to tell her. All he could do was hold her as she cried. And in that moment, that was all she needed.

Not long after, he could feel her breathing even out. She was sleeping peacefully against his shoulder as he ran his fingers over her scalp to soothe her. He let out a sigh and rested his cheek against the top of her head for a moment before adjusting his arms so he could pick her up and carry her to her bed.

He’d never been in an apartment before, so it was odd for him to see her bed placed behind her couch. Everything was so compartmentalized.

Steve laid her down gently, keeping the blanket he’d covered her in wrapped around her securely. She snuggled against her mattress and let out a sigh. He smiled at her content facial expression and turned to leave.

“Steve,” Y/N called after he finished putting his shoes on.

Steve looked up from his foot to see Y/N sitting up in her bed, still covered with her blanket.

“Hey,” he said, walking towards her bed. “You should go back to sleep.”

She shook her head, eyes welling with tears again.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, kneeling on her bed to get better eye contact with her.

“I don’t want to be alone right now,” she said, a tear falling onto her cheek.

“Hey, hey,” Steve said, using his thumb to wipe her tear away. He looked around her apartment before his eyes found her couch. “How about I take the couch tonight? Is that okay?”

Y/N nodded and began to unwrap the blanket from her body, “You’ll need this.”

“Thank you,” Steve said, taking the blanket and pillow she handed him.

As he made up the couch for himself, he noticed that she remained sitting up, making sure he wouldn’t leave.

“I’m going to be right here, okay? If you need me, I’m right here,” he said, patting the couch cushions.

Y/N nodded, “Okay,” she said, laying back down. “Good night, Steve.”

He smiled as he watched her and toed his shoes off, “Good night, Y/N.”


	4. Day Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy reading :)

Y/N awoke feeling completely rested--something she wasn't able to say for the past week. There was a sense of security lingering in her apartment as the smell of eggs and bacon reached her nostrils. She sat up in her bed and looked toward the kitchen, watching Steve as he cooked breakfast.

“Someone’s finally awake,” Steve smiled, transferring the eggs onto a plate.

Y/N glanced at her alarm clock, “It’s only six thirty,” she said, looking back at Steve. “What time did you get up?”

“Around five,” he shrugged.

“Why did you get up so early?” she asked, pulling herself out of bed. She walked into the kitchen to see what kind of breakfast he’d put together.

“I usually get up pretty early,” he said. “I guess it’s because I always workout in the morning. You know, lifting weights and getting abs.”

“Getting abs?” Y/N smirked up at him, taking a bite of the bacon he prepared.

“Oh yeah, getting abs. Behind the layer of Krispy Kreme there’s a six pack,” Steve smirked back, taking a bite of bacon for himself.

Y/N giggled and shook her head, hopping onto the counter so she wouldn’t have to crane her neck to see him. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you’re a dork.”

“I can live with that,” he smiled. “Not so bad, if I do say so myself,” he added, motioning down to the food.

“Not at all. Where did you learn to cook?” she asked, taking a forkful of egg.

“My mom,” he replied after taking a bite of egg himself. “She always said, ‘The way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach’.”

“She isn’t wrong,” Y/N smiled contently as they finished their breakfast together. They placed their dishes in the sink and sat in silence for a few minutes.

“How are you feeling?” Steve asked, turning to face her.

“I’m okay,” she answered with a nod.

“Are you lying?”

“Yeah.”

He sighed and gave her a sympathetic smile with a shake of his head, “I wish I could make you feel better.”

“Me too,” she half smiled, patting his shoulder before hopping off of the counter. “I’m going to shower and get dressed. You can leave if you don’t want to sit around and wait for me.”

Steve followed her, standing in the living room as she rummaged through her dresser drawer. He stretched his arm behind his head, scratching the back of his neck. “I was actually thinking I could drive us today. So you don’t have to worry about, you know, driving on top of everything else.”

Y/N turned to him with furrowed eyebrows and smiled, “I really appreciate it, but I feel like I’ve hogged you too much. Don’t you want to hang out with Tommy or Carol rather than just me all the time?”

“I like hanging out with you,” he replied.

Y/N could feel heat rushing over her cheeks and neck. Her smile widened and she looked down at her feet before looking back to him again.

“Well okay, but I think you should at least shower before we leave,” she agreed.

“You don’t like my morning scent?” Steve teased.

Y/N winced and walked towards Steve on her way to the bathroom, “Please never say that again.”

He chuckled, “No promises.”

 

They were both oblivious to the stares that were cast their way when they exited Steve’s car. Well, Steve was. Y/N assumed the stares were the same stares she’d been getting all week.

“Steve?” she called as they walked from the parking lot to the building of her first class.

“Yeah?” he asked, turning to her.

“Do you know where this is?” she asked, handing Steve the small, folded piece of paper Hopper had given her.

He looked it over and thought for a couple seconds, “That’s around the movie theater… it’s probably right across the street, actually.”

Y/N took the piece of paper back when he handed it to her and shoved it into the back pocket of her denim jeans. “Cool, thanks.”

“What’s that for?” Steve asked.

“Oh, a girl from my class said it was a store she thought I’d like,” she felt bad for lying to Steve, of course, but what would he say if he found out where she was going? She’d probably already scared him off enough last night; she didn’t want to push him even further away.

Steve shrugged it off, “I was thinking we could go to Sally’s Diner for lunch today.”

“Ooh, are we getting fancy now, Steven?” Y/N teased, nudging his side with her elbow.

“Don’t call me that.”

 

Y/N stood at the front doors of the run-down looking building. Paint was peeling off of the exterior walls near the door and the white, block letters on the window read ‘THAPY’ rather than ‘THERAPY’. Beside the dated sign read, “Get your first session free TODAY!”

She let out a deep sigh and gnawed on her lower lip. It should be easy. Just go inside and tell the psychologist what she knows. Maybe someone more professional than her friends would be able to help her remember what exactly happened that night.

A series of bells rang when Y/N pushed open the door. A set of jingle bells were connected to the door handle in attempt to make the office look festive. It was a decent effort.

“Hello, do you have an appointment?” an elderly lady asked. Her eyes were kind and lined with wrinkles underneath and on the sides, though they were concealed mostly by her prescription glasses that were wrapped around her head with a beaded eyeglass cord. The smile lines on her face were deep and prominent and her short, curly bob was just as white as new fallen snow.

“No, I was reading your sign outside. Is the first session really free? No co-pay or anything?” Y/N asked.

“That’s correct. As long as we have proof of address and medical insurance, your first session is complimentary.”

“Okay,” Y/N nodded, the scent of a gingerbread candle burning behind the receptionist desk calming her nerves. “Do you accept walk-ins?”

“If there are no appointments scheduled, we sure do. Let me check on that for you…” she trailed off, flipping through the pages of the appointment book. “It looks like there’s nothing for another two hours. Would you like to start right now?”

An instant wave of nausea spread through Y/N’s stomach. Should she be doing this?

“Yeah,” she said.

“Alright sweet pea. You can take a seat and fill this form out and Dr. Sinclair will call you back when you’re all set, okay?” she said, handing Y/N a clipboard and pen.

“Thanks,” she smiled, finding a seat near the children’s books. She was almost tempted to grab one of the stuffed animals out of the wicker basket on the floor and squeeze it tightly to her chest.

“Y/N?” a calming female voice called.

Y/N looked up to see a woman standing beside the receptionist desk. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head in a bun, complimenting the semi-formal outfit she was wearing.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Y/N said, standing up and following Dr. Sinclair to a room and taking a seat on the couch across from her.

From ceiling to floor, the walls were plain white with the exception of various degrees from a graduate college hanging near a window. Beside the window was a desk with a typewriter and miscellaneous pieces of paper stacked on top of it while a few small succulent plants were placed randomly on the other half of the desk. The entire aura of the room was extremely sterile.

“So Y/N, what made you decide to come in this afternoon?” Dr. Sinclair asked, breaking her out of her trance.

She took a deep breath, “I’m not sure if you’ve heard what happened to me, but I got… raped at a party about five days ago and I can’t remember important details.”

“What kind of important details?” Dr. Sinclair asked, writing down what Y/N was saying.

“Who did it. I can’t remember what he looks like and I barely remember what he sounds like,” Y/N paused to give her some time to write. “And I don’t know what’s wrong with me. The doctor said I would remember in a few days and it’s already been five.”

Dr. Sinclair nodded and set her pencil down when she finished writing. “I’m going to ask you a few questions. Some of them may seem unrelated, but I’d like you to answer to the best of your ability.”

Y/N nodded, “Okay.”

“Does anyone in your family know about what happened?” she asked.

Y/N bit her lower lip and shook her head.

“Why not?”

She took a deep breath in and held it, thinking about how to properly word what she wanted to say. “I guess I didn’t want them to know.”

“Why not?”

“My parents always had a tough love approach. I understand why some parents do it, but in certain situations I think it should be pulled back.”

“Situations like what?”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with—”

“Some of the questions will seem unrelated, but I’d like you to answer to the best of your ability,” Dr. Sinclair repeated.

Y/N sighed, “I had a boyfriend when I was in high school. The bad boy, you know, the one with ripped jeans and a leather jacket who stole his dad’s cigarettes.”

Dr. Sinclair nodded, continuing to write.

“It wasn’t long before he started to get abusive.”

 

_“Who was that?” Robert asked, following closely behind Y/N as she headed for her locker._

_“A friend. He let me copy his English notes since I was out sick last week, remember?”_

_“Oh he let you copy his notes, huh? And what’d you do for him?”_

_Y/N slammed her locker shut in agitation and turned to face him completely, “Excuse me?”_

_“You suck his dick or something? Is that why you two came out of gym late?”_

_“He let me copy his English notes, Robert. Which would make sense that we both came out of the gym holding our English notes,” she said, waving the notes in front of him._

_Quicker than she could comprehend, he slammed her back against the lockers and held her chin tightly between his fingers to keep her gaze on his. He’d done this before, but never at school._

_“Why don’t you just tell me the fucking truth?” Robert asked, his face millimeters away from hers._

_“I did tell you the truth—”_

_“Ah, ah, ah,” he said, using his other hand to brace himself against the lockers. “I said tell. The. Truth,” he said, grip tightening on her jaw._

_“Robert you’re hurting me.”_

_“And you don’t think it hurts me when I see you with other guys and then have you lie about what you’ve been doing?” he whispered, the scent of cigarettes strong on his breath._

_“I promise I’m not lying.”_

_“Hey!” a male voice boomed from across the hall._

_Robert quickly dropped his hand from Y/N’s face and turned to see who had yelled._

_“No PDA,” one of the science teachers said._

_“I’m sorry sir, I just can’t help myself. Isn’t she beautiful?” Robert asked, voice sweeter than honey._

_“Yeah, gorgeous. Now get to class. Both of you.”_

 

Dr. Sinclair handed a tissue to Y/N and she took it in surprise. She was so wrapped up in the memory she didn’t realize she had started crying.

“Were there more instances like this?” Dr. Sinclair asked.

Y/N nodded, “Yeah, a few.”

“Did you ever tell anyone about the abuse?”

She scoffed and shook her head, “I would’ve been better off if I hadn’t.”

“What does that mean?”

 

_“Dad, can I talk to you?” Y/N asked, knocking on his open study door._

_“Of course,” he said, clearing his desk off a bit. “What’s on your mind? You have my full attention.”_

_She sat down across from him and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “It’s about Robert.”_

_“Oh, what a fine boy,” her father cut in with a smile._

_Y/N looked up at him and back down to her feet, “Yeah.”_

_“What about him?” her father asked._

_“Dad, Robert hurts me,” she said, looking up to see his reaction. He looked confused._

_“He hits me and grabs my face really tight and leaves bruises on me,” she explained, lifting her shirt sleeve up to show the evidence of bruises in the shapes of his fingers when he’d gripped her too tight._

_Her father was quiet for a long time before sighing, “Y/N I really do see where you’re coming from. Really, I do. But this kind of thing is normal in any serious relationship. Your feelings are all out of whack and you don’t understand now, but you will when you get older.”_

_She looked at him in shock, expecting him to be playing some sort of cruel joke on her._

_“Are you serious?” she asked when he said nothing._

_“I don’t expect you to understand right now, sweetheart,” he began._

_“Do you hit Mom?” she cut him off._

_“What?” he asked, surprised at the abrupt question._

_“Do you hit Mom?” she repeated._

_“Your mother and I have already passed that phase of our relationship—”_

_“So physical abuse is a phase in every relationship?”_

_“Every serious one,” he confirmed._

_Y/N didn’t know if she should laugh, cry or scream. Her mind wasn’t able to process everything he’d just told her._

_“So I should just continue to let this happen?” she asked in an accusatory tone._

_“If you want a serious relationship with him,” her father said._

 

“I broke up with Robert a week later,” Y/N ended her story.

It felt nice to finally have someone who didn’t look at her like she was insane after telling that story.

“And how is your current relationship with your father?”

“It’s okay. After all of that happened he was kind of pissed I ended things with Robert, but he got over it after a while.”

“Is that why you didn’t tell your father what happened a few days ago? Did you expect him to act the same way he did when you told him about Robert?”

Y/N thought for a minute. Is that why she decided to not tell her family? Because it would be useless to do so?

“Yeah, I guess so. I feel like no matter what I tell my family, what hardships I’m going through… there’s always a reason to justify it.”

Dr. Sinclair nodded and looked down at her notes before looking back up at Y/N and making eye contact. “I want to try an exercise with you, okay?’ she said.

Y/N nodded.

“Lay back on the couch and keep your face up towards the ceiling.”

She complied and made herself comfortable, resting her hands on her stomach and concentrating on the speckled ceiling tiles, trying to count each individual speck.

“Okay, now I want you to breathe deeply three times, but you need to count as you breathe,” Dr. Sinclair paused before speaking again. “Now I want you to take a deep breath in through your nose for five seconds, hold it for three seconds and let it out for another five.”

“Alright we’re going to breathe in, one, two, three, four, five. And hold one, two, three. And exhale one, two three, four, five.”

“Whoa,” Y/N muttered to herself after the first exercise.

Dr. Sinclair chuckled, “How do you feel?”

“…Relaxed. That was so nice.”

“Let’s do it two more times, then.”

After the breathing exercise, Dr. Sinclair paused for a moment.

“Now, I’m going to ask you about the night of last Friday, October 11th,” she said. “If there is any time you feel uncomfortable or want to stop, please tell me. I’m here to help you, not interrogate you.”

Y/N smiled and nodded, “Okay, thank you.”

“Of course. Just so you know, everything you say in this room is confidential and will not be shared with anyone you haven’t approved of. What you achieve from what we discuss today will also remain confidential. Are you ready?”

Y/N took a deep breath and closed her eyes, turning so her face was up towards the ceiling again. “Yes.”

“Let’s get started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is when a lot of stuff gets found out for the reader, but not necessarily for Y/N! I've already got most of it written down, I just need to type it up. Have a great morning/afternoon/evening! :)


	5. Day Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's going to be another long one, so get your snacks! It's very dialogue heavy, so hopefully it won't seem as long as it is. Happy reading! :)

“Before you even got to the party that night, what did your day consist of?”

“I went to school. I only have one class on Fridays, but I didn’t mind it. It was actually a pretty good day.”

“Did anyone know you were going to the party before you got there?”

“Yeah, my friend Pamela and my friend Steve.”

“How did you meet them?”

“I met them both at school. Pamela in my Friday class and Steve in passing.”

“Okay, so tell me more about the events leading up to the party.”

 

_There were more people than usual in tonight’s class. Y/N assumed it was because the house party tonight was right across the street, so why not show up to class for once?_

_Before the professor got to class, everyone was buzzing about the party and how drunk everyone planned on getting._

_“It seems weird that you want to go tonight,” Pamela said, sitting in her seat beside Y/N._

_“Why’s that?” Y/N asked, pulling a pencil out of her backpack._

_“Because you’re not typically someone who likes to go out and drink.”_

_Pamela was right. Even though they had only known each other for six months, Y/N knew Pamela wasn’t stupid._

_Y/N shrugged, “New experiences.”_

_“Or because Steve invited you?” Pamela asked, giving her friend a knowing smile._

_Before she could respond, a voice erupted through the classroom. “Y/N likes Steve, ooh!”_

_“Fuck off, Tommy,” Y/N said, rolling her eyes._

_“I bet that’s what you want Steve to do!”_

_“No, man, she wants Steve to fuck **on** ,” Billy said, turning to face Y/N. “You know if he’s not giving out, I’m more than happy to fill that void,” he said eyes trailing over her body before giving her a wink._

_Y/N just shook her head and looked down at her notebook._

_“Hey, don’t listen to them,” Pamela said. “They’re just stupid boys who still act like they’re in junior high school,” she added, giving Y/N a smile._

_“We may be stupid, but we know when girls want it,” Tommy said, gyrating his hips. “Oh Steve, yeah, I want you to fuck me, yeah,” he moaned in a high-pitched voice._

_“Surprising you know that sound, Tommy, considering the only girl you’ve gotten to fuck you left you for another female,” Pamela shot back, the entire class, including Billy, cheering her on._

_Tommy shut up then, glaring at Pamela and Y/N as they laughed at her joke._

_“Oh come on Tommy, don’t give it if you can’t take it,” Y/N said, noticing his sour mood._

           

“What’s your relationship with Tommy and Billy besides classmates?” Dr. Sinclair asked.

“I know both of them through school. I met Tommy in my Friday class, but I knew of him through Steve. Apparently they were really close in high school, but when Billy moved to town, Tommy started spending more time with him and they eventually drifted apart.”

“And you met Billy through your Friday class as well?”

“Not exactly; he approached me one day when I was walking to the parking lot and tried to hit on me, but he reminded me too much of Robert so I blew him off.”

Dr. Sinclair nodded, “Did he seem angry that you had no interest in him?”

“Not really,” Y/N said with a shake of her head. “He just kept trying. I think he’s trying to wear me down until I say yes.”

“Okay,” Dr. Sinclair said, writing down some notes. “You said Steve invited you to this party. Where was he the entire night?”

“He called me before I left my apartment and told me he was going to be a couple hours late because his parents wanted to go to dinner.”

_“I’m so sorry, there’s no way they’re letting me get out of it this time,” Steve said._

_“It’s okay, I’ll be with Pam. As long as you get there I’ll be happy,” Y/N said, playing with the telephone cord between her fingers._

_“I promise I’ll be there,” he said, a smile evident in his tone. “We can play beer pong and dance all night, okay?”_

_She smiled, nodding her head even though he couldn’t see her, “Sounds great.”_

_“Cool. I’ll see you tonight,” he said._

_“See you,” she said, hanging the phone up._

_After she hung up, Y/N turned to Pamela, who occupied all the space on her couch and was wearing a shit eating grin._

_“What?”_

_“It’s okay, as long as you get there I’ll be happy,” Pamela mocked._

_Y/N blushed, “Shut up.”_

_“You guys are so cute, I don’t understand why you’re not dating already,” she said, standing up from the couch as Y/N gathered her jacket and car keys._

_“Pamela have you seen him? He can do much better than me,” Y/N said, locking her door behind them before heading towards her car._

_“Okay I’m going to need you to shut up right about now,” Pamela said, closing the passenger side door._

_“Pam—”_

_“No, don’t ‘Pam’ me. You are absolutely stunning. I know it, Steve knows it and that’s one of the many reasons why he likes you.”_

_“Why did you say that like he’s talked to you about it?” Y/N asked suspiciously, glancing at her friend before eyeing the road again._

_“I don’t know, why do you think it sounds like that?”_

_“Pam, you know reverse psychology doesn’t work on me.”_

_Pamela was quiet for a couple seconds before breaking herself down. “Okay fine, but you cannot tell him I told you!”_

_“What are you talking about?”_

_“Steve likes you, you clueless, beautiful woman! And tonight he’s going to ask you if you want to go steady!”_

_Y/N could feel her blush burn her neck and cheeks as Pamela squealed beside her._

_“That’s pretty ballsy of him,” she commented, trying to keep her composure calm while on the inside she felt exactly like Pamela._

_“Well I kind of told him you like him too so that probably gave him some confidence,” Pamela admitted._

_“You what?!”_

_“Why does that matter anymore? You both like each other and he’s going to do something about it.”_

_“I cannot believe this is happening,” Y/N said, face still burning._

           

“When you got to the party, what was the first thing you and Pamela did?” Dr. Sinclair asked.

“We got some drinks and played a couple rounds of beer pong.”

           

_“Damn, Y/N sure knows how to hold her alcohol!” a guy from her class said as she downed another cup._

_“Years of practice,” she teased, tossing the ping pong ball into the center cup on the opposing team’s triangle._

_“We’re playing you guys next,” Tommy said, motioning to Billy._

_“Okay, but I’m done drinking after that,” Y/N said. She liked having a buzz, not being drunk off her ass._

_“Next party, we’re a team,” Tommy declared after Y/N made the winning shot and Billy chugged the cup of warm beer._

_“Sorry, I don’t need another teammate,” she said, wrapping an arm around Pamela’s waist. “I do need a water, though,” she added, walking towards the large ice chest to grab a bottle._

_Pamela and Y/N sat at the dining room table, a thin layer of sweat and random puddles of beer making the table almost untouchable. Pamela started a conversation as people stumbled beside them, spilling alcohol on the floor._

_“Is your mom still picking you up at 10?” Y/N asked, glancing at her watch._

_“Yeah, why? What time is it?”_

_“9:50. Do you want me to walk you out?” Y/N asked._

_“No, I’ll be fine. But I can wait until Steve gets here if you don’t want to be alone,” Pamela offered._

_“You don’t have to, I’m sure he’s just running late. Thank you, though,” she smiled._

 

“After saying goodbye to Pamela did you stay in the dining room or move to a different part of the house?” Dr. Sinclair asked.

“I stayed inside and waited for Steve to show up. I tried to sit somewhere out in the open so he’d be able to see me.”

 

_Y/N switched her seat at the dining room table so she could see the front door easily just in case Steve came in. A sudden presence beside her surprised her._

_“You look bored,” Tommy said, sitting on the seat beside her._

_“Not bored, just waiting,” Y/N said, taking a drink from her water bottle._

_“Look, I’m sorry about what I did in class tonight. I shouldn’t have made your private business public to the whole class.”_

_She smiled, “Thank you for apologizing.”_

_“Yeah, no problem.”_

_There was a lull in their conversation until Tommy spoke up again. “Did I ever tell you that Steve and I used to be best friends in high school?”_

_“You barely speak to me,” Y/N replied._

_“Fair enough. But yeah, we used to be really close.”_

_“What happened?”_

_“I don’t really know. He just stopped talking to me one day. It really hurt because of how close we were, but I try not to hold it against him,” he said, shrugging his shoulders._

_Y/N furrowed her eyebrows; that was a much different story than Steve had told her._

_“Anyways, I was thinking we could have one more beer,” Tommy said, motioning to the beers he’d set on the table when he sat down._

_“No thanks.”_

_“Aw come on, one beer’s not going to kill you. I thought you could handle your alcohol.”_

_“Tommy I really don’t want to. You can either accept that or leave me alone.”_

_“Fine, fine,” he said, putting his arms up in surrender. “But I’ll leave it here just in case,” he said, sliding the beer closer to her on the table before walking away._

           

“Did you drink the beer?” Dr. Sinclair asked.

“After about another thirty minutes of waiting I did. I just got bored so started drinking it casually while I waited for Steve.”

“And how did you feel after drinking it?”

“I felt fine. I only really started feeling sick after someone blew smoke in my face.”

 

_“Hey, you want a hit of this?” a guy asked, extending his hand out to her, a marijuana cigarette between his fingers._

_“No thanks,” Y/N said, the smell making her stomach turn._

_“Aw, come on! You’re not going to be a square, are you?” the guy complained, taking a long hit and blowing the smoke in her face._

_She held back a gag and coughed, walking away from him without another word. Typically, the smell was never bothersome, but tonight it hit her harder than she expected. Now she remembered why she hated coming to these things._

_It crept up on her slowly. The overwhelming feeling of her sight going blurry as well as her stomach flipping nearly made her collapse. She stumbled into a couple people as she tried to leave the room to get away from all of the crowds downstairs. She could vaguely make out what the group had said to her. Some sort of praise for being “fucked up.”_

_Y/N ignored their cheers and stumbled down the hallway towards the bathroom. The line outside of the bathroom was too long to wait; she could feel her stomach churning with every step she took._

_“Hey is there another bathroom here?” Y/N slurred, asking the first female she saw._

_“Yeah, there’s one upstairs; it’ll be the second door on the left. But there’s probably someone having sex in it. That’s what upstairs is kind of designated for," she replied. At this moment, Y/N didn’t care at all. As long as the toilet was available, whoever was in there could keep doing their thing._

_She didn’t think it was possible, but everything seemed to become more and more blurred with each step. As she approached the stairs, the question, ‘How the fuck am I going to get up there?’ rang through her head. She closed her eyes to prepare herself and gripped onto the railing of the staircase with both hands. If she could see her knuckles, she was sure they’d be white._

_When Y/N got upstairs, it was mostly empty. Loud music continued to blare below her as the bass shook the ground beneath her feet. She couldn’t remember which door the girl had told her to go in. Second door on the right? She turned the knob and opened the door to a bedroom where she could hear the moans of people having sex. She mumbled an apology before closing the door and walking across the hall._

_“Hey, whoa, you’re kind of stumbling there. You okay, pretty lady?”_

“Who was talking to you?” Dr. Sinclair asked after Y/N paused.

“I don’t know. His voice sounded familiar, but I can remember his face.”

Dr. Sinclair was quiet for a moment and Y/N considered opening her eyes until she began to speak.

“I think the main reason you can’t remember who it was is because you’ve repressed those memories. You’ve pushed them so far back into your mind that you aren’t able to remember no matter how hard you try.”

“How do I un-repress those memories?” Y/N asked. She decided to open her eyes and sit up so they could have a face-to-face conversation.

Dr. Sinclair smiled sympathetically, “It’s not as simple as remembering. Most of the time there needs to be some kind of trigger that is familiar to something from that night.”

“What kind of trigger?”

“For example, if you smell marijuana smoke again, certain memories could come back to you. Most of the time it’s based on your senses.”

“So all I have to do is smell or taste certain things and I’ll be able to remember?” that seemed easy enough for Y/N.

“Not necessarily. That method doesn’t always work. It’s just the one with the highest success rate,” Dr. Sinclair explained.

“So there’s nothing else I can do?” Y/N asked.

“There’s absolutely more you can do. I’m always a strong believer that talking about your experience is a very helpful tool in aiding your memory.”

Y/N was quiet as she thought about who she’d talk to. She had given Steve the bare minimum, not wanting to scare him away with the gory details. There was no one besides Dr. Sinclair that she had been this open with.

“Do you have any friends or family members you’d be willing to talk about this with?”

She let out a sigh and nodded, “Yeah I do.”

“I would suggest talking to someone and give them as much or more details than you gave me.”

Y/N nodded, “Okay, I’ll try.”

“Is there anything else you’d like to share or something I should know?”

“Not yet. Thank you for listening to me and helping me. I really appreciate it.”

Dr. Sinclair smiled and nodded, “Of course, Y/N.”

 

Y/N thanked the sweet receptionist for all of her help earlier and wished her a happy holiday before exiting the building. The experience she’d had this afternoon was truly a ‘Never Judge a Book by its Cover’ lesson.

Once she stepped out into the cool air, Y/N hugged her jacked a bit tighter to her chest. She was not prepared for the snow.

“Y/N?” an all-too-familiar voice called.

She turned to the source. Pamela stood in what looked to be shock as she saw Y/N for the first time since the party.

“Hey,” Y/N said, walking over to greet her with a hug. After letting go, Pamela shook her head to herself.

“I didn’t want it to be like this, I was just so surprised to see you,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Y/N asked.

“I wanted to apologize. I should have never left you that night. If I hadn’t you wouldn’t have gotten… that would’ve never happened to you.”

It was surprising for Y/N to hear those words come out of Pamela’s mouth. “Pam, I never blamed you for anything that happened that night and I never will.”

“Really?” she asked, eyes beginning to well up with tears.

“Really,” Y/N confirmed, wrapping her arms around her friend tightly.

Pamela was the one to pull away first, wiping the moisture off of her face. “Why don’t we skip class and get some lunch?” she offered.

“Sounds great!”

 

Four strawberry milkshakes and two plates of fries later, the girls were talking as if everything that happened the past weekend hadn’t.

“So has Steve asked you to go steady yet?” Pamela asked as they walked past the movie theater. Due to the not-too-cold weather, she had suggested a walk around the shops to pass some time and continue talking.

“No. I think everything that happened kind of freaked him out. I’ve got too much baggage now.”

Pamela gave Y/N a look that told her she wasn’t buying a word of what she was saying. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

Y/N didn't say anything.

Pamela sighed and shook her head, “I promise you there’s nothing you could’ve done to make him change his mind.”

“How do you know?”

“The way he talked about you. It was like something straight from a movie. He’s smitten with you, trust me.”

Y/N gave her friend a half smile, knowing she was probably just saying that to make her feel better. “Enough about me. What’s been going on with you lately?”

“Well, I recently went on a horrible date. Can you guess who it was with?” Pamela smirked.

“I didn’t know you were interested in anyone,” Y/N said, adjusting her body so a group of teenagers that definitely should have been in school could pass by.

“I wasn’t and I’m still not,” she replied.

Y/N racked her brain as she thought about anyone that she had expressed interest in during the past few weeks. “I honestly have no idea, who?”

“Billy Hargrove.”

The look Y/N gave Pamela when she turned to her was priceless.

“I know!” Pamela shouted with a laugh. “God, it was terrible.”

“What happened? How did he ask you?”

Pamela smiled and eyed a nearby bench, walking towards it and taking a seat so she could give full dramatic effect. Y/N sat beside her, eager to hear the story.

“So it was a couple days ago. Billy asked me in passing at school if I would go to dinner with him. I knew he just wanted to get in my pants so I thought, fuck it, I’m going to go out with him and see how he feels when a girl rejects him.

“I didn’t waste a ton of time getting ready, but it seemed like he did because when he picked me up he _reeked_ of cologne, hairspray and cigarette smoke.”

“That sounds like an awful combination,” Y/N said.

“Oh, it’s worse than you can think of,” Pamela agreed, shuddering at the thought. “He walked me to his car and opened the door for me and drove us to the most typical date spot you could think of.”

“Sally’s Diner?”

“Sally’s Diner! All he would talk about during dinner was himself. How many reps he could do on some stupid workout machine, how he could drink a six pack and not even get buzzed and the most emphasized one… how long he could last in bed.”

“He told you that on the first date?” Y/N asked. “I’m shocked, but also not.”

Pamela laughed, “I felt the same way you did.”

“Did you get to speak at all during dinner?”

“Oh yeah, I got to pretend to be interested in the conversation. I threw in a lot of phrases like, ‘Really?’, ‘Oh wow’ and ‘How cool’. The extent of my vocabulary at the dinner table that night. Then, when he took me home he stopped four blocks away from my house, turned off his lights, looked at me and said, ‘So are we going to do this or what?’ I almost broke out in laughter at how corny he was.

“But I just looked at him and said, ‘Oh, I’m not doing anything like that. You should probably just take me home.’ I wish I had a camera to take a picture of the look of shock that was on his face. It was like he was a child and someone told him Santa wasn’t real.”

Y/N giggled and shook her head, “So he just took you home after that?”

“Yeah, the car ride was silent, the walk up to my front door was silent and I haven’t heard from him since.”

“That is such a great story. I’m going to have to remember that whenever I need a pick-me-up,” Y/N said.

“Call me whenever and I’ll tell you it with my dramatic flair,” Pamela offered, leaning back against the bench.

The two laughed for a couple seconds before Y/N spoke up again.

“Pam, thank you for today. I really needed to do something like this to forget reality for a couple hours. It really helped me.”

“I’m always here, okay? Any time you need me; you have my phone number.”

           

Pamela walked Y/N to her car and gave her another hug before heading back towards the shops. Y/N waited until her friend was completely out of sight before breaking down in her car, resting her head on top of the steering wheel.

Like Dr. Sinclair had said, talking to someone _did_ help her remember a crucial part of what happened that night. As Pamela was talking about Billy and how he’d approached her, one of the biggest events of that night had come rushing back to her. She had attempted to keep her composure when Pamela was around, but she couldn’t hold back anymore. There was so much more that she wanted to find out, but this piece of her memory had snapped back into her brain like a puzzle piece and she needed time to recover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the support on this; it's very much appreciated! Every hit, kudos and comment makes me smile :) <3


	6. Day Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not updating in such a long time! Unfortunately my job doesn't give me time off during Christmas so I was visiting family all last week. I'm back now, though, and ready to continue this story! Happy reading :)

“Are you sure he’s not in?” Y/N asked over the payphone, hopping up and down on her toes to keep herself warm.

“You really are new to this town, aren’t you, honey? Jim comes in when he wants to come in. I can let him know you called,” the receptionist said, her voice monotonous.

“Okay, thanks,” she replied, feeling much less satisfied than she did before she called. She hung up the payphone and closed her eyes, resting her head against the box. She needed to tell someone what happened before she could forget.

Y/N wanted to speak with Dr. Sinclair again, but she knew that one session would cost more than she’d be able to afford even if she dipped into her savings.

 

It was a short drive, but one that seemed like it took an eternity to complete. Her head was pounding as she slammed her car door shut, grateful that there were only two cars in the parking lot.

“Welcome to Melvald’s,” a woman said, standing behind the counter.

Y/N smiled politely and looked around for an aisle that had stationary materials. She only needed one item. There was a small stack of journals at the end of one of the aisles and Y/N picked one up, flipping through the pages. There was enough room for her to write down anything she could remember.

She walked up to the counter, timidly, her eyes averting any contact that the woman at the counter tried to have. She set the journal down carefully and gave the woman a small smile.

“Are you okay?” the woman asked.

Y/N glanced up from her wallet, reading the name ‘Joyce’ on her nametag. She furrowed her eyebrows; had she really been that obvious?

“It’s just that… I’ve seen you on the news. I can’t imagine what you’re going through,” Joyce added, motioning towards the newspaper on the counter.

Y/N looked at the headline. ‘Young Woman **Raped** at College House Party’ screamed off of the page in big, black, bold letters. Her eyes narrowed as she skimmed over the article.

“Do you mind if I buy one of these too?”

“Of course,” Joyce said, adding the total on her register. “That will be $1.50.”

Y/N pulled correct change out of her wallet and handed it to Joyce, eyeing a picture next to her on the counter.

“That’s really good; did you draw it?” she asked, motioning to the picture of a prairie landscape with a barn house off to the right of the page.

“No, my son drew it,” Joyce said with a smile, looking down at the picture.

“He’s very talented,” Y/N said, taking her items from Joyce.

“He is,” Joyce agreed.

There was an awkward silence before Y/N spoke up again.

“Have a nice day,” she said, giving Joyce a smile before exiting the store, the sound of bells jingling behind her.

 

Y/N debated on whether or not to read the full article. She took two deep breaths before pulling the newspaper off of her coffee table and looking at the picture on the front. It looked like the scene of the crime. An ambulance and fire truck were parked outside of the house where the party was that night. She couldn’t see much due to how far away the photo was taken, but it captured the atmosphere of what had happened.

‘Young Woman **Raped** at College House Party’. The title was enough to make her cringe. How could they advertise something like this as if it were a movie? With how small the town was it made sense. Things like this probably only happened in movies.

           

‘On Friday evening, a young woman, Y/N Y/L/N, was found naked by two high school students in the woods. The high schoolers, Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler, called an ambulance, which escorted Y/N to the hospital. Upon arrival, doctors performed numerous tests and confirmed Y/N had been raped after positive test results of flunitrazepam were found in her system and traces of semen were found on various parts of her body and face. There is a long suspect list, but Hawkins Police Department is vigilant about solving the crime. Police chief, Jim Hopper, stated, “Nobody is going to be getting away with this. I’ve promised Y/N that I will find her justice and I intend on doing that.” As of today there are no new leads, but Hawkins Post will publish new information as soon as we learn of it.

 

Y/N glanced at her new journal and picked it up in her hands. She knew she needed to write everything down before she forgot.

 

_“Let’s go get some fresh air outside, what do you think?” Billy asked into her ear._

_Y/N opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. It was as if she was simultaneously awake and asleep as he dragged her from the bathroom, downstairs and out the back door._

_She tripped over her feet more than once, but Billy’s tight grip on her kept her from falling down._

_“Billy, where are we going?” Y/N slurred, one arm draped over Billy’s shoulders while the other covered her eyes. The bright outdoor lights and pounding music adding to her already throbbing headache._

_“I’m not going anywhere,” he said as they walked further into the woods._

_“What are we doing? They party’s back there,” Y/N said, using one arm to point back to the noise that faded as they walked further away._

_“We’re not going to the party,” Billy said, stopping and lowering Y/N’s dead-weighted body onto the ground._

_“What are we doing?”_

_“We’re not doing anything.”_

_Y/N was confused, but unable to move as she watched Billy begin to converse with someone else._

_“I said sixty, man, what the fuck?”_

_“I can get you twenty more tomorrow, man. I promise. I just gotta raid my dad’s alcohol.”_

_“The fuck’s that gonna do?”_

_“I don’t want to explain it all now, but I promise, okay?”_

_Billy scoffed, “She better be a good fuck.”_

_“Look at her, she will be.”_

_“Whatever, don’t blow your load before I leave,” Billy said._

_Y/N heard the sound of footsteps scrunching away and she so desperately wanted to scream at Billy and beg him to come back for her. As she listened to Billy’s retreating footsteps, she didn’t hear a different pair of footsteps coming closer to her._

_“Look at you,” he whispered, turning her onto her back. She could feel his hands ghosting over her body, across her breasts and down to her waist. Y/N tried to open her eyes, but she couldn’t._

_Kisses began to press into the crook of her neck as the person’s hands pushed themselves underneath her shirt. Her weak attempts to push him off made him chuckle. “I’m surprised you’re still this feisty. I like it.”_

_She knew that voice. It couldn’t be._

_“Tommy?” she whispered, sinking deeper into unconsciousness._

_“Shh, don’t think about that right now, okay?” Tommy said, fingers popping open the button on her jeans._

_“No, don’t,” she said reaching down to button her pants back up._

_He pushed her hands away easily, tugging both her jeans and lacy underwear down far enough for his hand to reach her._

_“You’re even wearing lace. God, you’re making me crazy,” he growled into her neck, sucking the skin below her ear._

_“Please… please stop,” Y/N whispered, words slurring together as her eyes closed._

Y/N threw her pen across the room and ran her fingers through her hair as she attempted her process her memories. Tears streamed down her cheeks and chin, but she didn’t bother with them. She could feel herself becoming lightheaded and stood up, heading for the phone. She seemed to have the police department’s phone number memorized at this point.

“Hello?” the receptionist asked.

“Please,” Y/N sobbed out, “Please tell me Jim Hopper’s there. Please.”

“Y-yes he’s here, who’s calling?” she stuttered.

“Y/N Y/L/N.”

 

“And you’re sure it was Tommy that you heard?” Jim asked, typing up his report.

“Yes,” Y/N said, “It all came flooding back. I remember everything.”

She was no longer crying—it was more a feeling of shock. She stared forward, eyes not moving from where they froze, staring at the window sill. Her right leg was crossed over her left tightly while her arms hugged her body, holding herself together as best she could. Her body was wrapped in a flannel blanket that Jim had retrieved from behind his desk and placed on her shoulders.

“Okay. I’m going to grab a couple of my officers and we’re going to check his house. If he’s not there we’ll check the college, okay?”

“Okay,” Y/N said, eyes still frozen in place.

Jim watched her for a couple minutes, not wanting to impose on her thoughts. He sighed and stood from his desk, walking in front of her and kneeling. She had seen him move there, but her eyes refused to move.

“Hey,” Jim called.

Y/N glanced down at him.

“I’m going to get him, okay? He’ll be locked up, I promise,” he said.

She didn’t know what to say. Thank you? Okay? There was nothing she could say that would make her feel any better.

“You can stay in here as long as you want, but I don’t want you to be alone. I think someone should be here with you,” Jim said.

“I want to be alone.”

“I know you _want_ to, but it’s not healthy with the state you’re in right now. Trust me. Who do you want me to call?”

Y/N shrugged.

“Pamela Carlisle?”

“No.”

“Steve Harrington?”

She didn’t say anything. Did she want to see Steve in her current state? Not really. She didn’t want him to think any less of her; especially since she was about to get one of his best friends arrested. Before she could say anything, Jim was on the phone.

“Mrs. Harrington. This is Jim Hopper, police chief. I’m great, how are you?” he asked. “Is Steve home by any chance? Oh, okay. Thank you for letting me know. Have a great day.”

“He’s at school,” Jim said. “I’m going to stop by and have him come here before I get Tommy and Billy.”

“Okay.”

Jim sighed as he watched her motionless body. He had the sudden urge to wrap her in a hug and tell her that she was going to be okay; that he knows traumatizing events get more tolerable over time. But he didn’t.

 

She sat in the chair across from Hopper’s desk, knees to her chest as she held the blanket he’d given her tightly around her frame. She wasn’t physically cold, but it felt as if ice had replaced the blood pumping through her veins.

Y/N didn’t want to say anything as Steve sat on the floor, resting his back against Hopper’s desk. The two stole glances every once in a while, but neither spoke. There was no awkward atmosphere around either of them, but a comfortable silence. Steve glanced at Y/N again, wanting to ask her his burning questions, but not wanting to push her. Y/N looked down at Steve when she felt his eyes on her. He gave her a weak smile. She had attempted to give him one back, but it looked more like a grimace than a smile.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Steve asked. Hopper hadn’t told him anything except that his “girlfriend” was at the station and needed someone. He didn’t have time to argue before Hopper drove away.

“You’re going to be mad at me,” Y/N said, looking away from him and to her blanket-covered kneecaps.

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Steve argued gently, pushing himself forward a little more as she began to open up.

“I do,” she said, resting her head on her knees. It was an odd feeling; to be mentally exhausted and unable to sleep.

Steve moved the empty chair beside Y/N so he could sit closer to her. He faced her completely, but didn’t touch her. He leaned forward so he would be able to hear when she spoke.

“Try me,” he said.

Y/N glanced over Steve’s facial features. The concern on his face made her want to wrap her arms around him and weep, but she had done enough of that for one lifetime. She didn’t want to ruin what they had—or what they were _going to_ have.

“I don’t want to ruin us,” she continued, keeping their eye contact.

Steve reached forward carefully, watching her expression as he wiped a tear from her cheek. “You’re not going to,” he promised.

She watched him pull his hand back, the feeling of his fingers on her cheek tingled on her skin. She remembered what Dr. Sinclair had said about deep breathing and took one deep breath in through her nose.

“I know who did it.”

“Do you want to tell me?” Steve asked.

“No because you’re going to be mad.”

“Why do you think I’m going to be mad?”

Y/N could feel the wall she’d been holding up for the last hour and a half crumbling down as her tears began to fall.

“Because it was Tommy,” she said, burying her face in the blanket so she wouldn’t have to see his expression.

Steve didn’t say anything for a couple minutes, but Y/N remained in her position. For all she knew he could have left her in Hopper’s office alone. When she felt a hand run through her hair she looked up. Steve’s hand caressed the side of her face.

“Never in one million years would I be mad at _you_ for telling me who did that to you,” he said, his thumb catching her final tears as they fell.

“But he’s your best friend,” Y/N said.

“I don't give a shit about Tommy, we haven't spoken since high school.”

“He told me that you guys used to be really close.”

“I mean, I guess. We started to drift apart after our junior year of high school, though.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, “Why?”

“I just didn’t like his attitude or the way he treated people. And after finding this out I’m half tempted to beat his ass.”

Y/N broke a smile and loosened her grip on the blanket.

“What?” Steve asked, the corners of his mouth pulling into a smile when he saw her do the same.

“Steve Harrington. Number one ass-kicker,” she replied, making Steve chuckle.

“That’s my name,” he said, moving his hand from her cheek.

“Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I have a hug?”

Steve smiled and opened his arms to her, “You never have to ask permission for that.”

Y/N pushed the blanket off of her shoulders and fell onto Steve’s lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. He was taken aback by how intimate they were being, but not the sexual kind of intimate. The kind of intimate that makes your heart pound harder than it ever has before and makes your palms sweaty with anxiety.

“Is this okay with you?” Steve asked as he placed one hand on her back and the other on her knee.

Y/N nodded, leaving her face buried in the crook of his neck. “Is it okay with you?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Of course,” he smiled as his hand traced patterns along her spine.

They stayed in that position long enough for the lighting in Jim’s office to change. Y/N watched the sun as it set behind the horizon through the window.

Both of them jumped in surprise at the sound of the door opening behind them.

“Oh, I didn’t expect you guys to still be here,” Jim said, unfazed by the position they were in.

“Sorry, we can leave if you want,” Y/N said, standing up from Steve’s lap.

“No, I was actually going to call you,” Jim said, walking to his desk and pulling his typewriter closer to him.

“Why?” Y/N asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion as she watched him begin to type.

He stopped typing and looked up at her, “I found Billy and Tommy this afternoon. They’re in custody and are going to be getting a trial sometime soon.”

“Why Billy?” Y/N asked.

“I found out a lot more to the story than you know.”

“Like what?”

Jim glanced between the two college students standing in his office. “You’re going to need to sit back down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are only a few more chapters left! Thank you all for sticking with this <3


	7. Day Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day, what?! Yep, I have the day off and classes are over for another month so I have a ton of free time to finish this story! Happy reading :)

_“Damn, she’s so fucking hot, Tommy said, watching as Y/N walked into their Friday night biology class._

_“Yeah she is,” Billy agreed. “Why don’t you just screw her already?” he asked, leaning back in his seat._

_Tommy sighed and shook his head, “Steve’s into her and I’m pretty sure she’s into him too.”_

_“So? Have either of them done anything about it?” Billy asked, pulling at a loose string on his jacket._

_“I don’t know. I don’t really talk to Steve anymore.”_

_“Then why do you care?” Billy asked, looking up at Tommy._

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Why do you care about Steve if you don’t even talk to him anymore?” Billy elaborated._

_“I don’t know, man. We used to be best friends…” Tommy said._

_“Used to,” Billy repeated. “Key words right there, man.”_

_Tommy was silent for a couple seconds before turning around to face Y/N and Pamela._

_“Good evening, ladies,” he said, using the most charming smile he could muster._

_“Hey Tommy,” the girls smiled before continuing with their conversation. Tommy sighed in defeat and turned back around in his seat._

_“I can get you in bed with her,” Billy said in a quieter tone than he had used earlier._

_Tommy furrowed his eyebrows, “I’m not putting cologne on my dick.”_

_Billy rolled his eyes, “I know a guy,” he continued as if Tommy hadn’t said a word._

_“What kind of guy?” Tommy asked, his tone softening as well._

_“A guy that can give me something to help your chances of sleeping with her,” Billy explained._

_“I don’t understand.”_

_“Do you know what a roofie is?” Billy asked._

_“Yeah.”_

_“I can get you some.”_

_Tommy looked at Billy, expecting him to laugh and say he was joking, but he looked completely serious._

_“Are you joking?” Tommy asked._

_“Look, you want one night with her, right? Well, give her one of those and you can have that night. She won’t know and it’ll be your little secret.”_

_“Is that how roofies work?” Tommy asked._

_“Yeah, my guy’s told me everything about them. So if you’re ever interested, just let me know. But I’m gonna tell you this now: if you keep going down this route with her that you are, you’re never going to get it.”_

_“How much is it?”_

_“I can get it to you for sixty.”_

_“Dollars?” Tommy asked, almost taken aback at the price._

_“That stuff’s only legal in Europe and it takes a lot to get it to this bumfuck town. If we weren’t friends I’d charge you one fifty,” Billy said._

_Tommy sighed as he thought about what Billy had said. ‘She won’t know’. ‘It’ll be your little secret’._

_“How soon can you get it?”_

_“I can have it here in two weeks.”_

 

“I didn’t get much else out of either of them. I think they want to speak with their lawyers before talking about anything else with the police,” Jim said, watching Y/N’s reaction.

She was unreadable, mostly because she herself did not know how she felt. Was she relieved that she was finally getting justice for what had happened to her? Or depressed because of the constant reminder that she now suffered with post-traumatic stress disorder?

Steve’s expression was more readable to Jim. He was clearly two seconds away from standing up and finding both Tommy and Billy. The moment Steve stood up to leave the room, Jim followed suit.

“Let’s talk outside,” Jim said before Steve could get a word out.

Jim followed Steve out of the room and into the front parking lot of the police department. Just by the way Steve was walking Jim could tell how angry he was.

“I’m going to beat the shit out of them,” Steve said, pacing back and forth in front of Jim.

“No you’re not,” Jim said.

Steve stopped in his tracks, “How can you be so calm about this right now?” he shouted at Jim.

“It’s my job,” Jim said, letting out a sigh. “Listen, kid, I know how you’re feeling right now. I want to beat the shit out of those scumbags just as much as you do, but what good is that going to do? It’s going to make _you_ feel better for maybe five minutes. What will that do for Y/N? It’s not going to reverse what happened. And what is she going to do if her boyfriend ends up arrested for assault while she deals with what happened to her?”

Those words seemed to calm Steve down quite a bit. He let out a sigh shook his head, running his fingers through his hair.

“All Y/N needs right now is for you to be there for her. She might need someone to talk to or someone to listen and you need to be that person for her, do you understand?” Jim asked.

Steve nodded, “Yeah, I do.”

“Good.”

Jim began to walk to the doors of the police department, Steve following behind him. Y/N stood in the lobby of the station, waiting for them to return.

“Good talk?” she asked, glancing between the two of them as they entered the station.

“Yeah, I just needed to process some stuff,” Steve said.

“Me too,” Y/N said.

“You guys need to get some sleep. Y/N I’ll call you as soon as I find out more information,” Jim said.

“Thank you,” Y/N said, inching closer to Steve.

“You’re welcome. Now get out of here and go rest.”

 

Steve thumbed through her records and hummed approvingly, pulling out her ‘Seventeen Seconds’ record. “The Cure, huh?”

“I like them,” Y/N said, blowing out the match she’d used to light the candle that was sitting at the center of the coffee table, the scent of pine wafting in the atmosphere.

“They’re pretty great,” Steve agreed, placing the record onto the player and closing the lid. The record started with an instrumental track, lulling them into a comfortable silence.

Steve watched Y/N as she settled herself into her couch. She was so beautiful. Every move she made intrigued him more than he already was.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Y/N looked at Steve with furrowed eyebrows, “For what?”

“For not being there, at the party. If I was there you wouldn’t be in this situation right now and we…”

“We what?”

“Nothing. I’m just… I’m sorry.”

Y/N scooted closer to Steve on the couch, “Steve I don’t blame you for anything that happened that night.”

“You should,” he said, shaking his head to himself.

“I don’t blame you and I never will. I feel awful that you’ve been carrying that around. Please believe me and stop blaming yourself. You didn’t know this was going to happen.”

“You don’t deserve what happened,” Steve said, resting an arm on the back of her couch when he turned to face her.

“Usually everyone it happens to doesn’t,” Y/N said.

There was a silence between them, the sound of ‘Secrets’ playing in the background. Steve sighed before speaking up again.

“Can I tell you something?” he asked.

Y/N nodded.

“That night at the party, I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend.”

She smiled and bit her lower lip, shaking her head, “I know.”

“Pamela told you, didn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

“Dammit, she can’t keep anything a secret,” Steve said, slightly annoyed that she had told, but even more relieved that Y/N wasn’t rejecting him.

“Word of advice: Don’t tell the best friend of the girl you’re going to ask out that you’re planning to ask her out,” she smirked.

Steve chuckled, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

There was another short silence, the quiet atmosphere broken when Y/N let out a yawn. Steve chuckled and tapped his fingers against the couch cushion.

“I think you need to sleep,” he said.

“I think you’re right. Do you want to stay the night?” she offered.

“Unfortunately, I should probably go home. I’ll call you tomorrow if I don’t see you at school,” he said, standing from her couch.

“Yeah. I’ll walk you out,” Y/N said, standing from the couch and following Steve to the door. He unlocked and opened her front door, turning to face her before he stepped outside.

“Thank you for being there for me today,” she said before he could leave.

Steve smiled and nodded, “I’m always here for you.”

Without giving it a second thought, Y/N stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Steve’s cheek. Because of their height difference, she nearly kissed the corner of his mouth.

“Good night, Steve,” she said, smiling as a blush covered his cheeks.

“Good night, Y/N.”

 

The sound of her landline ringing woke Y/N up from her slumber. She groaned and looked at her alarm clock, noticing the early hour. She let the phone ring out and attempted to fall back asleep when the ringing stopped. When the phone began to ring again she sighed and stood from her bed, stumbling towards the telephone.

“Hello?” she groaned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with her free hand.

“Y/N, it’s Jim Hopper. I’m sorry to wake you up so early, but I need you to come down to the station to sign some paperwork. It needs to be turned in by eight this morning”

“Then why are you calling me at six?” she asked, slightly peeved.

Jim chuckled, “I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure I caught you before you left for school.”

That was understandable. “Oh, okay. I’ll be there in a bit.”

           

“Thank you for coming in,” Jim said, taking back the papers he’d given her to sign.

“Yeah, no worries,” Y/N replied, setting the pen he’d let her use back onto his desk. “Do you have any more information about what’s happening with Billy and Tommy?”

Jim sighed, “I wasn’t able to get much more information out of them. They both admitted a few different parts of the night. Billy admitted to getting the drugs for Tommy to use on you, but said he had no other involvement. Tommy admitted to giving you the drug by putting it in your beer, but Billy was the person who took you outside.”

“Did either of them say _why_ they did it?” Y/N asked, hoping to get some answers.

“Billy said he felt bad for Tommy because he had been pining over you for so long. So he offered to get him the drugs to use,” Jim said.

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows and Jim sighed, nodding at her expression. “Yeah, it doesn’t make any sense to me either.”

“We’re going to be asking a few more people from the party what they remember and if they saw any specific events happening revolving around the three of you,” Jim added.

“Do you believe me when I say Billy was the one who carried me outside?” Y/N asked.

“ _I_ do, but because you had the concussion, Billy’s lawyer is probably going to use that to their benefit,” he explained.

A sudden wave of panic crossed over Y/N’s chest, “Should I get a lawyer?”

“I would. It looks like those two are preparing to fight this,” Jim suggested.

Y/N nodded and stood from the chair, picking her backpack up from the floor. “I should get to school.”

 

“We haven’t done this in a while,” Steve said, opening the door for Y/N as they exited the building.

Y/N smiled and looked up at him, “Yeah, I missed it.”

“Me too.”

Steve was caught between the temptation of wanting to hold Y/N’s hand and lace their fingers together and the fear of rejection.

“Hopper told me that I should get a lawyer because Tommy and Billy are going to fight my accusations,” Y/N said, crossing her arms over her chest as she let out a shiver.

“Shit, really?” Steve asked.

“Yeah.”

“Well, hey, I can help you look for one if you’d like. My dad might be able to pull some strings for you,” he offered, stopping a few feet in front of Y/N’s classroom door so people could still get by them.

“Really?” she asked, looking up at him with a mixture of shock and happiness on her facial features.

“Yeah, I can ask him when I get home.”

She didn’t think twice about reaching up to wrap her arms around Steve’s neck. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, holding her against his body as she squeezed him. She pulled away soon after and smiled at him, leaving her arms around his neck.

“Thank you,” she said, moving her hands from around his neck after he pulled his hands away from her.

“You’re welcome,” he smiled. “Do you want to get lunch today?”

“Yeah, where do you want to go?” Y/N asked.

“I’ll surprise you,” Steve smirked, giving her a wink.

“I’m intrigued,” she replied, narrowing her eyes and giving him a smile.

“You should be,” he said, smiling as he looked at his watch. “I’ll see you after class?”

Y/N smiled and nodded, “Yeah, that sounds good.”

Before he began walking to his own class, he leant down to press a kiss against her cheek, causing blush to radiate off both of their faces.

With the biggest, goofiest smile on her face, Y/N turned and entered the classroom. Now that there was some closure to the traumatizing situation, she felt as if she could allow herself to stop bottling everything inside like she was used to doing. She had people in her life who were willing to listen to her and give her the emotional support she needed. It was something she hadn’t experienced in such a long time, but something she desperately needed.


	8. Day Twenty-Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if anyone reads or cares about the chapter titles, but just in case you do I wanted to explain the big jump in days. This chapter is primarily focused on the trial and it wouldn't be possible to have a trial the day after someone gets brought into custody by the police so I spread out the chapters with a two week jump. So instead of it being seven days after the crime happened, it's now twenty-four days. Hopefully that makes sense. If not and you don't read or care about the chapter titles, I'm sorry if you read through all of this and got nothing out of it lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One other thing I wanted to add: I didn't want to spend too much time in the trial part of the chapter because I feel like that kind of stuff can get really boring after a while and I also know little to nothing about courtroom lingo. So if something is wrong, please let me know! Google can only help so much haha
> 
> Happy reading :) <3

She kept adjusting the dress she was wearing that ended just below her knees. She wasn’t used to wearing dresses—especially in the winter. It was fifty degrees outside and the only thing protecting her mostly bare legs was a thin layer of pantyhose. A shiver ran down her spine when a cool breeze passed by. She waited outside until her attorney showed up. Sure, she could go inside, but inside was where Tommy and Billy were. She wanted to be as far away from them as possible for as long as she could.

“Hello Y/N, how are you feeling this morning?” her attorney, James, asked from behind her.

She turned to face him, shaking his hand. “Oh, you know, my anxiety levels are higher than they’ve ever been, my hands haven’t stopped shaking for the past hour and if I would have eaten anything this morning, I’m positive I would have thrown it up in that busy,” she said, pointing to the well-maintained shrubbery.

James chuckled and nodded his head, “That sounds about right.”

Y/N followed him as he began to walk inside, glancing at a journalist who was reporting the events of their trial today.

“James Coleson, will you please report what you know about the status of your case this morning?” the journalist asked as they were about to enter the building, shoving her microphone in his face.

“There are no concrete decisions that have been made, but I’m very confident my client will be successful,” James said, opening the door and letting Y/N enter before she could get bombarded with questions.

She could feel herself relax when she saw Steve standing in the lobby area, waiting for them.

“Hey,” Y/N smiled, falling into the hug he’d given her.

“Thanks for doing this, James,” Steve said, shaking his hand.

“Of course. Any friend of the Harrington’s is a friend of mine,” James smiled, taking his hand back.

“How are you feeling?” Steve asked Y/N when James began to converse with Chief Hopper.

“Awful,” Y/N replied, hands fidgeting as she attempted to keep them from shaking.

Steve frowned sympathetically and took her hands in his, holding them together. Y/N took a deep breath in through her nose, exhaling through her mouth.

“I’m going to be here the whole time, okay?” he said, rubbing his thumbs over her fingers.

“You’re not going to school?” she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“No. I figured you would need someone today so I told my professors I wouldn’t be able to make it to class today,” Steve explained.

Y/N smiled and wrapper her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. He smiled and held her close, lips pressed against the top of her head.

“Are you ready?” James asked, causing her to pull away from her embrace with Steve.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she said, letting out a sigh before following him into the courtroom.

           

The day went by much slower than Y/N had expected it to. She didn’t realize how many intermissions were involved and how long each side was able to tell their story. Because Billy and Tommy had different lawyers, James informed her it would be a little longer than a normal “open and shut” case like this would be.

“It should only be a few more house now,” James reassured Y/N as they sat down for lunch.

“What’s going to happen next?” she asked, picking at her potato chips.

“The part that everyone sees in movies,” James said. “Billy and Tommy are both going to be given a chance to speak on their behalf in attempt to persuade the jury to believe them. And then you’ll get your turn to speak.”

Y/N nodded. She’d prepared something to say when the time came.

“Are you nervous to speak?” James asked, taking a bit of his sandwich.

“I don’t know,” Y/N said. “I’ve had an uneasy feeling all day so I guess I can’t really tell.”

“Well I suggest you actually eat something. You’re going to be fatigued when we get back in there if you don’t,” he said, motioning at her food.

           

Y/N was grateful she listened to James and ate her sandwich. It had been one hour to get through Billy trying to cover his own ass as the judge asked him questions. It wasn’t Billy who concerned Y/N, though, it was Tommy.

She watched as Tommy took the stand and sat beside the judge. He glanced at her once, leaving his eyes averted for the remainder of his time there.

“Your honor, my defendant denies sexually assaulting Miss Y/L/N. They were both intoxicated at the party and due to Miss Y/L/N’s concussion, she did not remember giving consent.”

“Objection,” James said, standing up from his seat.

“Sustain,” the judge said, looking at Tommy’s lawyer.

He stuttered for a couple seconds before re-wording himself. “Miss Y/L/N never communicated the word ‘no’.”

He continued to defend Tommy, but Y/N wasn’t listening. She was more focused on trying to hold herself together as flashbacks of that night continually popped into her mind. Her mind was racing so much that she didn’t hear when she was being called to the stand to testify.

“Y/N,” James whispered, tapping her arm.

“Sorry,” Y/N said, standing up from her seat.

She glanced at Tommy before turning back to face the small crowd of people in the courtroom. She could feel her heartbeat begin to race until she locked eyes with Jim. He gave her a look and motioned for her to breathe in and out. She took a deep breath in through her nose and exhaled through her mouth.

“Miss Y/L/N, you do affirm that all the testimony you are about to give in the case now before the court will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; this you do affirm under the pains and penalties of perjury?” the judge asked from beside her.

“I do.”

Tommy’s lawyer wasted no time digging into Y/N where he knew it would hurt. She wanted to shout at him to stop, but also thank him for getting it out of the way early on. James had, thankfully, warned her that this would happen, so she had time to prepare.

“Miss Y/L/N, my defendant has claimed that he never sexually assaulted you the night of October 11, 1985, is that correct?”

“That is incorrect,” Y/N said.

“Incorrect? How so?” he asked, walking closer to the stand, but staying near the center of the room so the judge wouldn’t interrupt him.

“If you look at the hospital documents that Mr. Coleson provided earlier, they state that penetration was forced.”

“And how do they know penetration was forced? Is it not just a he-said-she-said scenario that we’re in right now?”

“Unfortunately, I’m not a doctor so I can’t tell you how they got to their conclusion,” Y/N said, glancing at James. He gave her a look that told her to lose the sass.

Tommy’s lawyer continued, questioning her for a few more minutes. She took James’ look into consideration and kept her smart comments to herself. She answered all of his questions as professionally as possible, but also told her side of the story as best as she could.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Y/L/N,” Tommy’s lawyer said as he finished, letting the judge take the reins then.

“Is there anything else you would like to say to the jury, Miss Y/L/N?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, unfolding the piece of paper she’d torn out of her journal. She took a deep breath and turned to the jury.

“I understand that there is a lot of speculation about what happened that night. And due to it being a situation where it’s impossible to know all of the facts if you weren’t there, I understand how difficult of a time the jury may be having,” she began. “However, I would like to speak to you, Tommy.”

Tommy’s head shot up at the sound of his name, looking her directly in the eyes. She was almost stunned to silence by the intensity in them.

“I know you’re trying to convince people that I gave consent because I never said the word ‘no’. And you know what? You’re right. I never said the word ‘no’. I used words like, ‘stop’ and ‘don’t’, but never ‘no’. I begged you to stop three times and I even told you that I wouldn’t tell anybody if you just stopped, but you never did,” she said, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. She knew that she needed to push through this if she wanted the jury to understand her side of what had happened.

“I don’t know why you did this. I remember crying through my words when begging you to stop because you were hurting me, but you ignored me. I remember asking you why you were doing it and you told me to shut up.

“My only question to you is: Why? Why did you do this to me? I did nothing to deserve this. I never thought of us as the best of friends, but I didn’t know you hated me so much to easily put me through this much suffering. I wake up almost every night in tears because I keep reliving the trauma you put me through that night. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to sleep through the night without waking up in a panic because of the nightmares you’ve caused me to have.”

Tommy averted his eyes from hers then, head lowering so he wouldn’t have to see anyone else looking his way for a reaction. He knew it looked bad to somewhat hold his head in shame, but he knew that she was right.

“Is there anything else you’d like to add, Miss Y/L/N?” the judge asked.

Y/N took a deep breath and nodded, “Tommy,” she said, waiting for his gaze to meet hers again. “I forgive you.”

 

It almost didn’t feel real. When the jury had a majority rule of finding both Tommy and Billy guilty she could feel the heavy weight being pulled from her chest. It was almost as if she could breathe again.

_‘Billy Hargrove sentenced to four years in jail for assisting in aggravated sexual assault and illegal drug possession. Tommy Hughes sentenced to eight years in jail for aggravated sexual assault and illegal drug possession.’_

“Congratulations, Y/N,” James smiled, taking her hand in his and shaking it.

“Thank you so much for everything, James. I really appreciate it.”

“No worries. I’ll go out there and brave a few of the journalists so you can have a moment with your friends,” he smirked, heading off to talk to one on her behalf.

A pair of arms wrapping around her from behind and lifting her off the ground surprised her. “I told you you’d win this,” Steve said, setting her back down.

She turned to wrap her arms around his neck and hold him tight. He smiled and buried his face into her neck and hugged her back. He could feel her shaking in his arms.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, pulling away from her so he could see her expression.

“I feel like I can breathe again,” she said. “Thank you for always being here for me.”

“Any time,” he smiled, holding eye contact with her. They both began to lean in to each other, but abruptly pulled away when a hand clapped Steve on the back.

“Congratulations you two,” Jim said, giving Y/N a one-armed hug. She smiled and wrapped both of her arms around him, giving him a squeeze.

“Thank you,” she said, looking up at him.

Jim smiled and nodded his head, looking between Steve and Y/N. “I’ll leave you guys to it. Congratulations again.”

“I should probably go back to James and talk about… stuff,” Y/N said, rocking back and forth on her heels awkwardly.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, of course. I’ll call you later,” Steve said, running a hand through his hair.

She pursed her lips and smiled, “We should hang out this weekend.”

“Yes. Yes, definitely. Why don’t we catch a movie at the drive-in? You can pick the show,” he offered.

“That sounds perfect,” she smiled, reaching forward to grab his hand and squeeze it. “See you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” he agreed, giving her hand a squeeze back before she returned to James.

 

That night Y/N trudged into her apartment after finishing up the day with James, thanking him once more before making her way home. She let out a sigh and forced herself to shower, nearly falling asleep as she leant against the wall of her shower.

It didn’t take her long to dress herself in her sleep shorts and tank top after getting clean and falling asleep swaddled in her sheets.

A loud gasp filled the room as Y/N awoke with a cold sweat, shooting up out of bed. She placed her hand over her heart, attempting to slow her breathing and calm her heart rate down. A sob ripped through her chest as she buried her face in her hands.

“I thought this was over,” she sobbed to herself. “Why isn’t this over?”

 

The bar scene wasn’t Y/N’s typical crowd, but it was one that she knew wouldn’t ask questions if she sauntered up to the bar and remained silent. She did just that, asking the bartender for a moment when he asked what she was having.

The main entrance to the bar opened and Y/N shivered as the cool October air blew against her body.

“Well I didn’t expect to see you here,” Jim said, sitting at the barstool beside Y/N.

She smiled at him and shrugged, “Yeah, I guess.”

He furrowed his eyebrows, but turned toward the bartender. “Two Jack Daniels’ clean,” he said.

“How do you feel today?” Jim asked Y/N when the bartender scampered off to make their drinks.

She chuckled and shook her head, deciding to answer honestly. “I’m exhausted. Even though this is all over I still feel like I need to watch my back everywhere I go. I barely slept last night; I thought this would all go away after what happened yesterday.”

Jim watched her empathetically and took a deep breath before beginning his speech. “I lost my first daughter about seven years ago. For the longest time, I blamed myself for it. Every night I had nightmares and would wake up in tears with a cold sweat. I pushed everyone away; my ex-wife, my friends… everyone. That was the worst thing I could have done. I quickly fell into a depression and became reliant on prescription pills. I still refused to speak to anyone about how I was feeling. The reason I’m telling you this is because I see a lot of myself in you. You like to be alone with your problems. That’s fine, but not 24/7. You need to be able to talk to someone and not bottle up your emotions. It’s not healthy for you to do that.”

Jim watched Y/N’s response to her words and gave a quick smile to the bartender when he set the drinks down in front of him. Y/N nodded and fixated her gaze on her folded hands that rested on top of the bar.

“It does get more bearable, though,” Jim continued. “Traumatizing events get more tolerable over time.”

Y/N gave him a half smile, “Thanks. I know that I was probably a pain to deal with through all of this so I appreciate you taking your time to help me.”

“You were never a pain,” Jim said.

“Thanks.”

Jim watched her for a couple seconds before sliding one of the glasses of whiskey next to her hands on the bar. He held his up in his hand as if he were going to toast.

“To overcoming trauma,” he said, holding his glass out to her.

She smiled and pick up the glass, “To overcoming trauma,” she said, clinking their glasses together.

They simultaneously took drinks, Y/N almost sputtering hers out. “Jesus, how can you drink this clean?”

Jim laughed and took another swig of the whiskey while she asked the bartender for some ice cubes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, hopefully you got the day off from work or school ;)


	9. Day Seventy-Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to make chapter 8 the final chapter, but I really love writing fluffy stuff and I hardly got to throughout this story so I wanted to write this. If you like the way the story ended at chapter 8 you by no means are obligated to read this chapter, but if you want to read some fluffy stuff, I hope you like this chapter :)

The smell of Y/N’s pine scented candle filled the atmosphere of her apartment. An old Frank Sinatra Christmas record played quietly in the background as she finished touching up her hair. A knock on her door sounded just as she finished. She walked to the door excitedly and pulled it open, smiling when she saw Steve standing before her, hands shoved into his jacket pockets to keep them warm from the frigid temperature outside.

“You are stunning,” he said after giving her a quick look over.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Y/N smiled. “Get in here,” she said, pulling him in her apartment and shutting the door behind them to keep the winter air outside.

Steve smiled and followed her into her living area.

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t get my kiss,” he said.

Y/N turned around with a smirk, “Oh, I’m sorry, would you like one?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck as he pulled their bodies together.

“Yeah, I would,” he smiled.

She smiled and closed her eyes as Steve leant in. Their lips pressed together quickly, Steve gripping tighter at her waist as their kiss deepened. Y/N pulled away, pressing a few more chaste kisses to his lips. They left their arms wrapped around each other as music continued to play softly in the background.

“Frank Sinatra?” Steve asked, turning around to glance at her record player. “I’m pretty sure my parents were listening to this exact record this evening,” he smirked, turning back to face her.

“Shut up,” Y/N said with a short laugh.

“Gladly,” he winked, leaning down to kiss her again, more eager than before.

“If we didn’t have to be somewhere in thirty minutes, I’d be more willing to continue this,” Y/N said, eyes rolling back slightly as he began to trail kisses down her neck and to her earlobe. He groaned when she began to tug on his hair and pulled away reluctantly.

He smiled after seeing her flushed face and lust-blown eyes, positive he looked the same.

“I know we said ‘no gifts’, but I couldn’t help myself,” Steve said, pulling a small, square, wrapped box out of his jacket pocket.

“Steve,” Y/N began to complain before he used one finger to cover her lips.

“Stop. I wanted to,” he smiled, handing her the gift.

She sighed and looked up at him, defeated. “Now I look like an awful girlfriend.”

“Oh, I know,” Steve said, giving her a smirk, “This will definitely be coming up during our next argument,” he teased, giving her a wink.

Y/N smiled and rolled her eyes. “Dork,” she said as she began to rip apart the wrapping paper. “You didn’t,” she said, looking up at Steve with wide eyes when she realized it was a jewelry box.

“Maybe I did,” he smirked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Steve I haven’t even opened this yet and I already know it’s too expensive,” she said, eyes filling with worry as she thought about how much money he could have spent on her.

“Hey,” he said, getting her attention. “Stop worrying. If I didn’t want to do this, I wouldn’t have.”

Y/N sighed and glanced down at the box before looking back up at Steve.

“Open it, I want to see what you think,” he said.

She took a deep breath before opening the box, revealing a silver-chained necklace with a single diamond hanging from the bottom of it.

“Steve this is beautiful,” Y/N said, taking the necklace out of the box. “Help me put it on?”

He assisted her with clipping the necklace behind her neck, smiling when she turned back around to face him.

“Just when I thought you couldn’t get more beautiful, you manage to prove me wrong,” Steve said.

“Steve… this is just… it’s stunning. Thank you so much,” Y/N said, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck and press a kiss to his lips.

He responded immediately, wrapping one arm around her waist while the other held the back of her head, allowing him to deepen their kiss. Y/N moaned quietly as began to kiss her neck again, positive he would leave marks on her skin. She grabbed the sleeves of his jacket, pushing them off of his shoulders. He quickly caught on to what she was doing and pulled his jacket off, letting it fall onto the ground. Y/N walked backwards as Steve began to push her. She stopped when the backs of her legs hit her bed, easing down and pulling Steve with her. He crawled over her, lowering his body gently onto hers. She loved the feeling of Steve’s full body weight on top of her, pushing her deeper into the mattress. He pressed a few more chaste kisses to her lips before pulling away from her and glancing at her alarm clock.

“We need to be there in fifteen minutes; we should get going,” he said, turning back to Y/N. “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” he said, noticing her pouting face beneath him.

“One more kiss,” she said, pulling the fabric of his grey t-shirt towards her.

Steve smiled and leant down, “One more,” he said, pressing a kiss to her lips. He groaned against her mouth when she arched her hips up and bit his lower lip. He grabbed a fistful of her white comforter in one hand, holding himself up.

“Sweetheart, I want to do this. Fuck, I really want to do this. Look at what you do to me,” he said, grabbing one of her hands and placing it against his chest, over his heart.

Y/N smiled as she felt his heartbeat racing.

“And this,” Steve added, moving her hand down to his crotch where she could feel his arousal. “I _really_ want to do this, but we have people waiting on us and we’re already going to be late,” he said.

Y/N sighed, “When did you turn into the responsible one?”

“When you became uncontrollably horny,” Steve chuckled, leaning down to playfully bite the shell of her ear before standing up to retrieve his jacket from the floor.

After a quick touch-up in her bathroom, Y/N emerged to find Steve waiting for her at her dining room table.

“Are you ready?” he asked, watching her blow out the candle on the coffee table.

“Yeah, let’s go,” she said, taking his hand and following him to his car.

           

“There you guys are! Did you get lost?” Nancy asked, pulling Y/N in for a hug.

“No, parking was just crazy,” Steve said, greeting Jonathan and giving Nancy a quick hug.

“Yeah, a lot of people turned up this year,” she agreed, lacing her fingers with Jonathan’s. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

“So what do you guys do at this thing?” Y/N asked, leaning back against Steve; partly for intimacy, but mostly because she was freezing and wanted some body heat. Steve smiled when he realized what she was doing and wrapped his arms around her from behind, placing his chin on top of her head.

“Well, it’s mostly activities for kids, but there are some food stations and live music over there,” Nancy said, pointing across the field where it looked like most of the adults were congregated.

“Are you guys hungry?” Jonathan asked.

“Yeah, let’s see what they’ve got,” Y/N said.

Before they could take a step, a young girl who looked about seven years old shouted, “Snow!” as she stood a few feet away from them, spinning in a circle.

The group looked up at the sky to see that it was, in face, beginning to snow.

“Well look at that,” Steve said, squeezing Y/N slightly. She giggled and turned to face him.

“It’s a Christmas miracle,” she teased.

 

They all got food and sat down at an empty picnic table, chatting about how school was going, funny family stories and awkward relationship moments. It was at times like this when Y/N felt completely happy. Times where she could forget all of the chaos that had happened months ago and focus on her life now.

Steve looked down at her when he could feel her staring up at him. “What?” he asked, giving her a smile.

Y/N shook her head and smiled, “I’m just happy,” she said.

“Good,” he replied, leaning in to peck her lips. “Me too.”

“Guys! The tree lighting’s about to start!” Mike, Nancy’s younger brother, yelled from his spot near the tree.

They all stood up and hurried over to the tree. Y/N smiled as people around her began to count down.

Sure, it was a small town and people here got excited over things she had outgrown. Sure, it was a dingy old tree that someone was going to plug in when the crowd got to “zero”. But the excitement radiating in the atmosphere from everyone was infectious and made her heart race as the countdown neared its end.

Cheers erupted around her as the lights on the tree were illuminated. She watched children jump with joy and couples share kisses. Across the way from her stood Jim and his girlfriend, Joyce Byers. She and Jim made eye contact for a split second and Jim smiled at her, motioning his hand up as if he were toasting. Y/N smiled and did the same.

“Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” Steve said, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

Y/N turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Merry Christmas, Steven,” she teased, giggling when he groaned and shoved his face into the crook of her neck.

“I love you, you know that?” Steve said after pulling his face away from her neck so he could see her reaction.

Y/N blushed and nodded her head, “I had an idea you did. That’s good, though, because I love you too.”

Steve smiled and pulled her lips to his, keeping her wrapped in his arms for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of my first story on AO3! Thank you all so much for sticking with this and giving me support <3 :)


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